热身词语

　　cosmetics: make-up such as perfume, lipstick, etc.

　　I sell cosmetics to women who are trying to look young. They are spending more on treatment creams than they did years ago. I can remember when lipstick at two dollars was tops. Now they have lipsticks that sell for five. Appearance. Many times I think, thirty dollars for this little jar of cream. I know it doesn't have that value. But in the eye of that woman, it has that value. A cosmetic came out that was supposed to smooth out the wrinkles for five or six hours. It puffs out the skin. The wrinkles would return. We criticized it. But a woman came in one morning, she said, "I'm going for a job interview and I'm past forty. I want to look nicer." I felt differently about selling it to her. It might bring her a job.

　　They say everything comes out of the same pot. There isn't a cream that's worth forty, fifty dollars. But when you see the enthusiasm of the women who purchase these things , you don't want to make them feel discouraged. They're beginning to show lines and wrinkles. They know their husbands are out in the business world with young women who are attractive. They're trying to look nice, to keep their husbands interested. So cosmetics have their place, I think.

　　There is always the competition of keeping their husbands interested. You see the fear in their faces-becoming lined. They all discuss this: "Look at me. I look terrible." They will talk about seeing it on television-the cream that erases lines. Television is the thing that has brought all this. More anxiety.

　　following: people who like what you do

　　Customers ask your advice. They rely on you. If you've worked in one of these places for a number of years, you have a following. People come in and wait for you actually. You become a little bit of a friend. They can speak to a stranger more than they can to an acquaintance. They may tell you some little tragedy or something. You learn a lot about people when you're with the public all day. There are so many lonely people. So many women between the ages of forty and seventy.

　　brand: the registered name of a product or service, i.e. Microsoft, Marlboro 

　　aggressive: violent or extremely self-confident

　　feel the customer out: try to understand what they are thinking, and how to get them to buy something

　　stress: make a point or idea completely clear to someone/make it obvious that it is very important

　　You're supposed to try and sell a certain brand. Many stores work that way. We suggest the brand we know about most. Many women come in and they'd like to see an Arden, a Lauder, or a Rubenstein product, and you show it to them. If they ask for a definite brand, you don't try to sell them another. I'm not aggressive. I don't want to send a customer home with a bag full of things and when she gets home she feels, Why did I buy this? You try to feel the customer out. I stress the saving: "How much would you like to spend?"

　　commission: bonus/extra money earned by selling a product

　　Years ago, women that sold cosmetics and perfumes made more money on the average than they do now. You could earn much more than girls working in an office. Today you hardly earn as much. The companies are spending so much money on advertising. Perhaps they feel the girl will sell much more and earn more, that way. They don't put it into salaries, I know that much. They have tremendous advertising budgets. We work on salary plus commission. One of my children who's sold said, "The lowest common denominator is the salesclerk on commission." It brings out their greed and their disregard for their fellow workers.

　　auditor: an accountant who helps you with your income and taxes

　　I'm not paid by the store. I'm paid by the cosmetics company. The company expects you to sell their merchandise. You send them a monthly report. There are ten of us in my department. Each one represents a different company. Out here in the suburbs you represent more than one company. You might have two or three cream lines; four, five, or six perfume lines. You have a tremendous amount of stock to take care of, reports to send in. You have to have an auditor help you with your income tax. You have salaries from so many different companies.

　　pension plan: investments that look after you by giving you a fixed income after you retire

　　The extra work, making out reports, is done in your own home, on your own time. The Revlon report can be eighteen inches, with numerous items on it. You can't work on these reports when you get home at night. Your eyes become a little blurred. You're a little weary. You have to do it on Sunday. You spend the whole day on it.

　　There's another hazard to the job. You get no health insurance or anything like that. The companies don't cover you for hospitalization. I have to carry my own. You can't get in on a pension plan either. A woman that just retired worked in this section fifteen years. If she worked directly for the store, she could have retired with a little pension. She retired with nothing. I will get nothing.

　　sick leave: time off from work because you are ill

　　no man's land: middle of nowhere - mentally or physically

　　The company I represent gives you five days a year sick leave. If you're sick more than five days, you don't get paid. The one year I was sick, I didn't get paid for the few days over. There are department store unions, but if you're in the pay of someone else, it's ... no man's land. Years ago, when earnings were greater, I could have retired with something. Now I won't.

　　My manager is very friendly with me. She knows she's secure with me. I'm going to stay just where I am. It's been seven years and I've been here every day. When we get to the age where we have to ... I can be dismissed at will. We have no protection.

　　You stand on your feet all day. Years ago, there was a rule that there had to be a stool in the back of each counter. I don't see that enforced any more. There aren't any stools around. I think everyone's feet feel tired at the end of the day. We have college kids that come in, especially before Christmas. They complain more about being tired than the older women.

　　The managers seem afraid to tell the young people what doesn't go. They're not as willing to work. A little less courtesy, too. Maybe it's a good sign, in a way. Maybe they feel this is nonsense, all the thank you's and the please and everything. The same thing with their appearance. There's a certain independence they're showing. But in showing their independence they look like all the others.

　　When you have children that are going through college for years, it takes money. That the reason many women go back to work, their children's schooling. We have widows, women who were caught in the Depression, who couldn't go into professions. So we turned to selling.

　　use the words: in this case, it means "being obviously and openly racist" -it means being racist verbally rather than just thinking bad things

　　Stores like ours that carry high-priced merchandise have make-up for black woman. Many buy light make-up. They think they'll look better. You have to be very careful when you're selling a black women. Some like a strong fragrance. Some, because they're black, will not buy a strong fragrance. These are middle-class women. The prejudice behind the counter- I can't begin to tell you. They use the words. You wonder how it's ever going to be resolved. Sometimes you get discouraged with humanity.

　　There are other things you'd like to be doing. I was interested in teaching but the depression…You would have liked to do something more exciting and vital, something you felt was making a contribution. On the other hand, when you wait on these lonely old women and they leave with a smile and you feel you've lifted their day, even a little, well, it has its compensations.