"Do you sell clicky-clackies?" 🤨
Original email from Sep 13, 2024
Last Wednesday, I asked for a day off of work to help auction off everything in my parents' 15-year-old hardware store
The store itself has been around for 25 years. My uncle owned it for around 10 years. In 2009, a few months after my family came to Argentina, my parents bought it from him and owned it for the next 15.
In 2009, I still was learning Spanish AND helping my dad from time to time with tending to customers (a combo I do NOT want to wish on anyone 😅)
I had to learn what a "tuerca" was. Nut and bolt sizes. Different cable types and use cases. How to calculate inches to centimeters on the fly because screws would sometimes be represented in inches.
And since working there was like working in retail, I unfortunately had to learn how to *gasp* talk to CUSTOMERS...
IN A LANGUAGE I WAS STILL TRYING TO LEARN 😱
And half the time, they would have no idea what they needed! Or even how to express themselves.
I remember this one customer who walked in once and asked:
"Hey question - do you guys sell uhh... *clicky-clackies*?"
...
I'm sorry...
"Yeah a clicky-clacky, you know, for the light?"
"Oh brother..." my dad said, finally realizing what he meant and looking annoyed about it.
My poor sweet (but not very patient) father looked at him and asked:
Sir, do you mean a light switch?
"Yeah yeah! One of those!!!"
Ahhh, I then realized... "click-clack" was the sound a light switch made...
My dad sighed... and asked me to get the man a light switch.
...
But I uhh, didn't move.
...
And then, my dad realized I didn't know where the light switches were, despite him showing me multiple times. There were literal aisles of products and boxes which made remembering where everything was difficult so... 🤷♂️
And thus, my dad was just generally annoyed that day 😄
With my parents closing shop, I know I won't get any more experiences like that where I'm learning alongside them while working with them, which made me a bit sad and nostalgic.
Despite the many many many times I disliked working there, I did end up learning a lot about empathy. About trying to understand what customers wanted (especially when they couldn't quite articulate it), and when we did understand, figuring out together how to solve their problems with the knowledge we had.
And then realized many years later that whether you're working in the frontend at a company or just working freelance... it's going to become important to know how to help clients understand what they want and validate that. Especially the higher level of seniority you'll be working at.
So if that sounds like a skill you'd like to have and have a possible "cheat sheet" on, I'm currently gauging interest on this very topic (to see who would be interested in buying a small guide + template to understand how I do it). If that sounds like something you would be interested in, click on this Youtube link of a dolphin bonking a glass to let me know.
If you already clicked on a link in a previous email, thank you! I'll be rounding up the numbers soon and possibly reaching out to get some opinions.
Have a great Friday!