Me. Me. Me.

I love my job!!!

My job is filled with all sorts of excitements. People from all sorts of background walks through the door every day. I get to listen to hilarious stories from my customers, and at times, even get to become a part of a special story. I get to help make life changing decisions. I make people feel like they're an Olympic athlete and others, princesses.

I work at Kids Foot Locker.

Yes, my job is to sell shoes to kids. You might be baffled and think that I'm full of bologna, but let me explain. :)

Listening to stories

I can't tell you the amount of stories that I listen to in one day at work. The kids that I help always have the most interesting stories to tell me. At times, it might be a little hard to understand them, but when you do it's always an interesting story.

My favorite story may be the time where a little boy, about 8 years old, and his mom walks into my store. I noticed that one the boy's left shoe, there was a huge hole near the forefront. So I ask him, "Hey bud, what happened to your shoes?"

He explained that his dog, Doggie, was really hungry and he didn't know what dog eats. He remembered seeing the dog chewing his dad's shoes one time. So he instantly connected the dots. In his words, "I took my shoes and he starting eating it. Doggie wasn't hungry anymore." His mom on the other hand didn't look too amused about Doggie's meal.

Being a part of a special story.

Every now and then, new parents walks through the door looking for their baby's very first pair of shoes. The parents are always excited. I am even more excited. This is the closest thing for me to witnessing a baby's first words or first steps. Even though it may seem like an easy task, it's even more complicated than it sounds. It might sound over-dramatize, but I get to be a part of a special story. That Jason from Kids Foot Locker helped pick out the perfect pair. 

A times, I even get to see kids grow a little through the years that I've been working there.

I work with Olympians, No Biggie.

The kids that I help are always in their fantasy world. The boys are always looking for the craziest color shoes that Lebron or Kevin Durant wears. Horribly as this sounds, parents and I tag-team to convince them many things about the shoes. Some of my favorite lines are:

"The shoes will make you run super-fast like Usain Bolt!" "Did you know that Lebron where these to jump super high?"

The boys then take it for a spin, and their reactions are priceless! They instantly become faster and jump higher than ever. 

The process of putting on the kids shoes is very meticulously. I sit them down on the bench and have them raise one foot onto one of my knees as I kneel on the other. After taking off their old shoes, I then slip them into their new pair. For some of the girls, it reminds them of the prince slipping on Cinderella's shoes. The first time I heard,

 "Wow, I've never had anyone put on my shoes like this before. It makes me feel like a princess." 

My heart just melted at that moment. Every time I hear this, it brightens my day every time. 

:)

Sometimes in life, I let moments like this pass me by. Moments where I can make someone else feel special. I believe that when you live your life, there's more to it than yourself. It's about the people you impact; it can be in a small way like this. 

-Jason