Come see the softer side.

I'm unemployed at the moment (recently finished Grad school) and I run errands. Today's list included brown paper trash compactor bags from Sears. (The hot pink Timex watch was not on the list but found a home on my wrist. Shh...)

The Sears salesman who helped me locate the trash compactor bags turned out to be more talkative than Joan Rivers. I should have searched for the unexciting bags myself, but I'm unashamed to admit that I'm a female who asks for directions, help, jobs, etc. on a daily basis.

In the course of finding the banal bags and paying for them, it seems I had unwittingly agreed to a Sears ShopYourWay Rewards card (acts no differently than a CVS card), a Q+A session about today's service, and a chance to win $4,000 in a Sears sweepstakes. I naturally perked up when hearing the latter. The Sears dude then circled 15 things on the receipt with detailed instructions on how to win the said money. My head hurt.

When he wouldn't part with the receipt, I started to get antsy and glanced furtively at my frivolous, but fabulous hot pink watch. But I listened patiently because I sensed he was bored. Or worse, lonely. Or stuck in the Sears basement for far too long. Think 'Milton,' from Office Space.

I listened because he was a nice guy who was just doing his job. And right now, I have all the time in the world. Because I'm unemployed. And strangely, I'm OK with this is. Because I know it's only temporary. And work is forever. So is Sears, come to think of it. The company has been around since 1893. Imagine that.