An Open Letter to Apple

Dear Apple Computers:
Thank you for the excellent show of character from the employees at the Mac Store inside the Valley River Center mall.

I was in there to drop off my resume and for the first time in a few weeks I received something other than a lukewarm greeting and a rush through the usual motions to speed me out. Most places now days treat those who enquire about employment with a sense of contempt and annoyance. Being unemployed, the most dreaded part of the day is the job search which for me means riding all over town on my seven speed Schwinn dressed in my best clothes knowing that I will face not only rejection but outright and over-the-top rudeness. There are times that, quite frankly, I even feel guilty for walking in and asking. No one should ever be made to feel guilty for trying to trying to get back on their feet.

Your representatives at the Mac Store acted in a manner of diginity, respect, and patience that I rarely have seen in my decade or so of working in the retail and customer service. The store was busy when I walked in holding my file folder in one hand and a resume in the other and sending me off on my way as quickly as possible would have been the most expedient thing, but the clerk spoke with me and notified her manager who tried to locate the store manager who was at lunch.

The sales floor manager took some time to look over my resume and told me to come back in an hour to speak with store manager who spoke with me and reviewed my resume despite the store being busy and despite the fact that he had just conducted a job interview.

I just wanted to think the employees here for these simple acts of patience and kindness. We all too often forget about these virtues. It is often times seemingly easier just to dismiss others, but by doing so we gain nothing as people nor do we gain the blessings of others.

As a buisness, your company has done a great thing here by acknowledging that as a job-seeker I am a potential customer -- a fact that I really wish other businesses would understand. By treating others with respect, we gain theirs.

Many thanks for making my day. Being jobless and homeless is a depressing, boring, and freightful thing. It was good to be able to talk into a store and treated as a person.

Sincerely:
Kitsune Rising