Sarah sells shoes at Sears

After work today, Kristin and I drove to the Tacoma Mall to visit Sarah in the shoe department at Sears. To pay the bills for the summer, Sarah had to take the footwear job because an internship she had previously been granted was dissolved with that companies' local offices. My finger rest on the trigger of my digital camera as we entered the store and I snapped picture after picture of Sarah working that saleswoman groove-thang. Aside from visiting our friend, Kristin and I were actually on the lookout for some new soles. Sarah already had her eyes on a pair of sandals that she wanted me to come get. I tried them on and told her that I'd buy them. It was also easy to accept the 25% off clearance items that would occur tomorrow and the 20% discount she gets as a side effect of holding a job there.

Knowing of stories where security personnel at Sears called associates (like my Sarah) wanting dates, I gestured towards the shiny black security camera encompassing hemispheres that she was mine and no one else's. It's sad to imagine employees sitting in a small room surrounded by screens glowing with the black and white images of customers. What better way do they have to spend their time than by oggling over the newly hired chick in shoes? Well, before Sarah, Kristin, and I went out for food, I glared directly into the voyeur's cameras and let them know what was mine and what they were not to touch.

The three of us grabbed a bite to eat in the mall's food court. We talked over the pseudo-meal as I took macro photographs of my Orange Julius smoothie and Kristin's McDonald's fries. I'm glad we visited Sarah but it was sad to see the conditions under which she is forced to work: half-assed co-workers, cranky maternal customers, and row upon row of gaudy foot coverings. She's a real trooper for working retail two summers in a row. The end may be in sight, however, because she is due to interview for an internship at the Tacoma Art Museum in a couple short weeks.

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