Friday, February 13, 2009

My lesson for today....

One of my professors sent us on a fishing expedition to get copies of petitions for dissolution of marriage (divorce) at the clerk of courts here in Chicago. Although she said we could try and find a blank one on line, she said it would be even better for us to go to the clerk office and get a copy for they are a matter of public record.  While many of my classmates went online to find a blank petition, I opted to go down there and see what is it that is to this because that may be one of my functions as a paralegal to obtain records, evidence, blah, blah, blah....

Anywhoooooo, I must say I am glad that I am always friendly to my customers here at TJ Maxx. Lets start there! LOLOLOL

I go in and the first person I see immediately recognizes me from my store.  Keep in mind, I am at the downtown location and see thousands of the same damn people every week who work downtown. (I swear, these folks need an intervention and a television cuz their shopping asses don't seem to realize that we are in a recession!!!)  Anyways, after the recognition and minor chit chat (of which I asked I hoped that I have always been friendly towards her and she was like yeah girl, you always in their handling your BUSINESS!!!) and she was more than willing to show me where I needed to go, how to use the computer, pull up names, case numbers and where to take the information to pull the actual records. 

Sooo, I do my bit at the computer, gather my info and make my way to the domestic records clerk.  So I get there and she too was like, don't you work for TJ MAXX??? and I am like yesss, so she gives me my records and sends me on my way.  After viewing them I realized I needed some more cuz those didn't have what I needed. Back to the computer I go, I come back with some more case numbers and she was like ,you are a student at Roosevelt aren't you? LMAOOOO How'd ya guess? LMAO!!

Sooo then she said, lemme go pull some cases for you that I know are active and children are involved. Sistahgurl HOOKED ME UP!!! She found this two cases, one of which was 6 inches thick! Sooo, I am perusing the case file and these two were acting a natural fool!  I am talking 3 years worth of litigation, filing of contempt of court on boith parties, blah, blah , blah! All kinds of shit going on.  Now mind you, I have to sift through all of this information just to get to the actual petitioin for divorce! *whew* I thought me and Mister went at it! LMAOO We aint got SHIT on them two!

Anywaysss, the whole interaction with the two ladies regarding my employment reminded me of two things...

First, I have had numerous customers come up to me and ask me when was I leaving TJ MAXX cuz I was too good to be working there! This would usually lead to conversations about my schooling, my impending degree and paralegal certification which lead to at least 3 people telling me to give them my resume when I am close to completion because don't you know they work at law firms that are always looking to hire good paralegals??

Second, had I been a rude ass to these to these two ladies in question at my store, things could have gone MUCH DIFFERENTLY cuz we all know city workers can be REAL ASSES!!!!

Being that I work downtown and many law firms are located in downtown Chicago, I *may* have an easier time looking for employment.  MANY, MANY people go to TJ MAXX to shop on their lunch breaks and I ALWAYS give good customer service.  Even if I tell you no, that something is against policy, blah, blah, blah it is ALWAYS with a smile on my face, a song in my heart followed by a 'sir' or a 'maam'.

Which brings me to the conclusion and the ever serving reminder to always be courteous to people in general cuz you NEVER know WHEN you may see them again.

11 comments:

  1. yup yup
    u NEVER know!!!

    glad u got the hook up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. GIRL... it PAYS to be nice... ALL THE TIME.

    Congrats.
    Whether you realize it or not your CS background will serve you VERY well as a paralegal!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This can't be stressed enough! This is the absolute truth! Due to you kindness, you may just made good connections that will help you when you are dealing with real cases.

    ReplyDelete
  4. See...I'm glad that you learned your lesson well...cuz it will benefit you when you get ready to seek employment. Because we all know that getting a job in today's world is more about WHO you know than WHAT you know...and at the end of the day...being HOOKED UP is where it's at if you are trying to get your foot in the proverbial door! Good job on providing excellence in customer service!

    ReplyDelete
  5. REMIND me to REMIND you to hook me up with some free clothes if I EVER visit the Chi and go to TJ Maxx....

    ReplyDelete
  6. You learned your lesson well grasshopper.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am betting on it. Sometimes I worry because I don't have paralegal experience per se, however, I do have over 15 years of dealing with customers which leads to problem solving and delivering customer satisfaction and when I think about it, customer and clients are the same thing!!! Ya gotta know how to handle people and talk to them and let them know errrrrrrthang gonna be alright!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AMEN to that!!! One of my profs told us that getting your resume walked in versus mailed in makes a WORLD of difference. and coming from Roosevelt's program doesn't hurt either. From what I am hearing, Roosevelt paralegal grads are PREFERRED!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. UMMMMMMMMMMMM NO!!!! LOLOLOL First, it would be unethical, second, we got detectives who are NO JOKE, third, what I look like with a criminal justice degree being fired for stealing? LOLOLOL

    ReplyDelete
  10. yup
    i was talking to someone today who is gonna give me a 50% hook up on my living room set
    and a man i helped at work who offered me $20 for my help, then i refused it, is gonna repair my sofa at a discount
    the old lady at work i was nice to and said had the same name as my grandmother, always brings me nice suits and stuff that people at her church give away

    and i dont do SHIT to earn this, i am just very very nice and courteous to people and they respond that way

    its a VERY good lesson to learnm prolly the BEST one of all!!

    ReplyDelete