Career Confidence

4A Guy Walks into a Bar

A young man graduates from college with no idea of what he wants to do with his life. I will call him John.

John can't find a professional job. He leaves school without any real-life skills. Beer pong champion does not count. He has student loans, wants to move out of his parents' house and mostly wants to get laid, go to bars, and hang out with his friends.

So he gets a job at the mall, at a well-known department store.

He starts off working in the stock room. He unloads boxes from trucks. He sorts and takes clothing out of plastic wrap, puts them on hangers, puts those on racks, and takes them to the sales floor to be displayed by the retail workers.

John does this, day in, day out, for two years. He never calls off. He is always pleasant. And he's picked up a few fashion tips from looking at “almost” designer clothes for those two years.

One day, a woman from the company's corporate office comes to the store for a visit. You know this kind of visit: “We realize you are peons, and that you barely make minimum wage, but I am here to tell you how important you are to our company before I drive off in my Mercedes and never think of you again.”

As she makes her trip around the store, she spots this young (well-dressed for the stock-room job) man and strikes up a conversation. It helps that he's pretty cute. And very friendly.

They chat. She asks him about himself. He talks about his work and how much he likes the company and would like to “do something ...