Be nice to me, I'm just doing an honest job

You probably might have seen a guy or a lady, nicely dressed, with big bags slinged from their shoulder going from one table to another table in an open space restaurant, or the walkways, selling books, CDs, toys or gadgets. With a big smile on their face, they will usually introduce themselves first before showing you their merchandise. Most of the time they will say that their price is cheaper compared to others, and there are further discounts if you buy more than one. It's quite a common sight whether you are in East or West Malaysia, and most people think that they are such a nuisance, some people even uses harsh words to shoo them away. When you are approached by them, what would you normally do? Let me tell you about my experience being one.

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I was about 22 years old then, unemployed and was so desperate to get a job. The economy was really bad back then, hundreds of people will line up just to get interviewed for a single vacancy. I've even walked from doors to doors asking for work, but I couldn't find any. At last, my sister told me that her friend is looking for a worker, but not much detail is being told about it. Without thinking twice, I told her that I will go for the interview tomorrow morning.

I wore my best shirt and slacks, polished my shoes and took all the relevant documents that might be needed for the interview. I took the bus early from Donggongon town at 7.00am and reached Kota Kinabalu around 8.00am. I was early, but I waited patiently at the entrance, practising the answers to questions that I thought might came up during the interview later. Soon, a few people started to gather in front of the entrance, I said hello to some of them, thinking maybe they are going for the interview same as me. Then the door was opened.

As I stepped inside, only then that I realised that it was actually a warehouse. I spotted one lady at a table nearby, and told her that I came for an interview, but she looked clueless. She told me to wait, and ushered me to another room, where the people that I met at the entrance just now are gathered. I looked at them, and they are mingling and talking with each other, I just smiled when some of them looked at me. A few minutes later, a lady walked in, and the room became quiet all the sudden. She has this vibrant personality with strong characteristics I couldn't explained. She must be someone important I thought, and I was right. She was the Sales Manager.

Before I could even approached her, she already started talking about a new product that needed to be sold off that day. In her hand she showed us a battery operated multipurpose flashlight cost about RM15, and then she started to teach the HOW's and WHEN's to approach potential customers. I started to feel awkward, I have a feeling that the work that I thought was, is not the same as I first imagined. And again, I was right, I was in the middle of a morning motivational Sales Team training.

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Once she finished with her motivational speech, I straight away went to see her and told her that I came for an interview as recommended by my sister. She told me that the interview is not necessary, and no paper qualification is required. She explained in detail the type of business they are running, and told me to try out doing sales before making up my mind to either work there. I was going to say "no, thank you", but I don't know why I said "ok, I'll try it" instead. She was jubilant, and I was introduced to an Indian guy who will supervise and help me. I forgot his name though, he doesn't talk much.

So, we started packing up the stocks into a single big box. There were five of us in this group, led by the supervisor. He told us that we will be going around KK City to sell off the merchandise after a quick breakfast at a nearby shop. While we were having breakfast, I started to ask questions about salary and they started to look uncomfortable. The supervisor however told me, that there are no basic salary or allowances, only an RM2 commission for each sales that we made. I was worried once he told me that, what if I can't make any sales? Am I good enough to persuade people to buy what I am selling?

It was time to move, and we started walking back to the warehouse and packed our things. The supervisor took the big box and carried it on his shoulder, being nice, I asked whether he needs my help but he declined. Only about 20 meters after we walked away from the warehouse that I realized that we don't have any transportation. The supervisor told me that it is not provided, and all transportation expenses we will have to bear it ourselves. Luckily, we will only be in KK City that day, so we will just need to walk around by foot. I asked him, are you going to carry that box around too? He smiled and told me that he will keep it at a friends place, and when we are low in stocks, we can always go back and re-stock. Eventually, we stopped at an Indian Restaurant in the middle of KK City and kept the box there. Then our day started.

He gave me 2 pieces of the torchlight to hold as I don't have any bag, the others stuffed their bag to the fullest. We spread out after that, but I kept on following my supervisor, observing him, trying to learn the tricks of the trade. Once I thought I've learned enough, I tried to do the sales my self, and the restaurants are my favourite place. Going from table to table and approaching people on the sidewalk to sell things is an unbelievable experience. You need to have the charm and thick skinned to succeed. You will be frowned upon, scorned at, chased away from the restaurant and even laughed at by people. By the end of the day, I manage to do six sales and got myself RM12 commissions, not bad for a new guy I thought. It was saddening though, to see some of the guys only managed to sell 2 or 3 pieces, the despair on their faces getting so little, doesn't reflect much against their effort.

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It was about 6.00pm when we started to wrap things up and made our way back to the warehouse. I was exhausted, my feets are aching and I was starving, we didn't even managed to have lunch that day. I remembered, it was during lunch hour that the restaurants are filled with customers, so we took the opportunity to do our sales and forgot our lunch altogether.

We have to wait for all the other groups to arrive before the management started to check on the stocks against the number of sales, and then they announced the total sales of the day to the glorious clapping of hands by all salesman and saleswoman. The sales manager came to see me and asked how was my day. He called my supervisor too, and asked him how I performed. I only heard words of compliments from him. Then she turned and faces me again, and asked me if I wanted to continue. It was a really awkward moment, as all the other salespersons were looking at me, I hesitated for a second, but eventually, I said "Yes". Jubilantly, she announced it to all the others and they all clapped. I was flushed with embarrassment.

It was already 7.00pm when I boarded the bus, and reached home around 8.00pm. I straight away went to the kitchen to have my dinner, my parents were puzzled and worried sick. They expect me to come home early as I was just going for a job interview in the morning. I forgot to inform them, and I got a good scolding from them. I told them how I went through the day and showed them the blisters on both of my feet for walking the whole day long. I took a shower and slept like a baby that night. My body and feet are still aching though.

I woke up the next morning and about to prepare to get to work, I looked at the clock and it's nearly 11.00am. I can't believe it, my first day officially going to work and I was late, I tried to get up, but my body was aching all over and I could hardly stand up on my aching feet. My mom purposely didn't wake me up, she doesn't want me to work that way, she told me that I deserve better and told me to wait a little longer, the right job will surely come. So, I called the office and told the manager that I have decided not to accept her offer. I was a bit sad, but also a big relief for me. I know that I am not suited for such kind of job.

I was in Doggongon town a week later, having lunch with my brother, then from afar, I saw a few familiar faces walking towards us. They were going from table to table, selling children's book. One of the guy reached our table but he doesn't recognises me. So I just kept quite. I smiled at him and politely decline to buy his books. He smiled, said thank you and then moved to another table. That could have been me I thought, what would my parents have felt if they saw me in that condition? How sad they would have been.

I know, doing such an honest job is nothing to be ashamed of. It is way better than stealing for a living. After gaining an experience even for a day, it has thought me a lot of things about people. I learned to respect these street smart peddlers and salesman, their works looks easy in the eye, but it is tough, not as easy as it may seems. So, when you meet these people someday, give them some respect and be polite, and if you can spare a few ringgit, maybe you can buy the things they are selling sometimes, it really means a lot to them.

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