I am still working at Coop but now in a new place. In charge of vegetables and fruits in a bigger store in a bigger city. New and exciting fruits are being available that no one has ever heard of: starfruit, rambutan and litchi. I want to try everything but the management is not always so keen on my ideas. I realize how frustrated it makes me feel. Slowly I start to understand that maybe I am not a guy who should be employed by someone else. Not being able to go where I want with my ideas without permission is making me feel strangled.
In a big organization you need to follow the rules and the decision-making process has to follow a certain course. My thoughts cannot flow freely and my ideas are taking time or being stopped. It is, again, time for a change.
After a lot of thinking I am back in my parents' house asking for a talk with my father. I feel confident, knowing that he will be so happy with my decision to come back and work with him. I throw myself in a big chair and start telling him about my decision and our new future...
It is 1970 and I have just started school. Excited and a bit nervous, with my new school bag over my shoulders, I walk in to meet my new friends. In the class room our teacher is checking who can read and write and we are then divided into two groups. Today I am asked to go up to the blackboard to write my name. I know how to do this and I confidently walks to the front of the class. M-i-c-H-a-E-l. There it is. The teacher frowns and I hear giggles from my classmates. I know it is correct and understand nothing.
A couple of years later I am asked to stand in front of the class reading from a book. The letters dance in front of me and it looks like they are jumping around, changing positions. I stutter when I read and have to take it slowly. Again, says the teacher. Again and again. My classmates are laughing even harder. The letters are like ants crawling around the page.
Did I get broken? No, but I got tough. I became one of the boys at the back of the class room, not wasting too much time learning things. Today I know what caused the problem - Dyslexia. In many ways children are better off today because the help and understanding is there. Me today - I am so happy that I can listen to books instead of reading them!
I am fifteen and my mother and her friend is forcing me and a friend to take dance classes. Not just any! With girls... My hands are sweaty, I have two left feet and the girls I dance with don't look too impressed. The worst is that my mom is waiting outside so we cannot sneak away from class.
Fifteen years later I am about to get married. My wife-to-be asks if we can take dance classes. To be able to do the bridal waltz perfectly. Ironically she books us in to the same dance school as I went to when I was younger. Slowly we learn the steps, the posture and the turns. We practice at our warehouse. We practice and practice and practice. So comes the big day. I am not sure what makes me more nervous - the wedding or the dancing. After dinner it is time. We walk into the middle of the dance floor. Head high, shoulders back. The music begins and we start dancing. We slide and turn and make our moves, expecting our parents to join us after a minute. No one moves. They let us finish and then later, everyone cheers.
I am so far out of my comfort zone, but still I make it. I feel like there are no limits now. No limits to what I can do.
I have a new job. Working in a grocery store. My time is divided between being in the store and taking a course preparing me to become a store manager. There are a million things to learn. How to take care of the dairy section, how to cut meat, which fruits cannot be next to each other. And customers, so many questions, sometimes happy, sometimes angry and sometimes sneaky. Some of them almost become my friends. Slowly I learn how to act and tackle people. One of my most valued lessons. If you can handle customers in a good way, then you can succeed with almost everything.
Starting working in a grocery store was my way of getting away from the family business, After some time I realize that my grandfather on my father's side used to own a grocery store. My father worked there as well. So much for trying to do something new!! Success rate zero. But as with every job I have tried so far - valuable lessons to learn! This job made me aware of the importance of customer care, something I have benefited from during the rest of my life.
