5 Things I Like About My Mom’s Job at Trader Joe’s
A few years ago my mom Mary applied for a job at the Trader Joe’s in Allston, MA, her hometown. Her main reasoning was that the people who worked there always seemed so nice and happy that she wanted to be a part of it.
This echoed a story about Julie from the excellent book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb:
“ … she was waiting in line at Trader Joe’s and found herself mesmerized by the cashiers. They seemed so themselves in the ways they interacted with their customers and one another, making conversation about the small daily things that are really the big things in people’s lives—food, traffic, the weather … she imagined doing work where she could see tangible results in the moment—you pack groceries, you cheer up customers, you stock items. At the end of the day, you’ve done something concrete and useful … she knew she was idealizing the job. But she still wanted to experience that sense of purpose and community, of being a small part of lots of different people’s lives—even if just for the time it took to ring up their groceries.”
Since taking the job, I think my mom’s experience has contained a lot of that purpose, community, and tangible results. Here are 5 things I like about my mom’s job at Trader Joe’s:
1. Her role styling the new items display
This is from one of my mom’s reviews, which have been excellent and which she regularly shares because she’s proud of them:
“You excel when on Demo, sparking conversations regarding the product being sampled, pairings to accompany them, or other new products arriving.”
This makes sense because after she started my mom went all in, listening to the Trader Joe’s podcast, asking customers about their favorite products, learning from the team wine and food demos, and testing to find her own favorite ingredients.
After a while, she was put on the New Items display where she spotlights new items and pairs them with other favorites. Her product knowledge is now quite impressive, and it benefits me greatly because …
2. I get expert answers to all of my shopping questions
Here a few recent texts:
Best TJ frozen pizza or frozen meal? I want to get one for after our flight home
For pizza, I prefer the thin crust. My favorite would be the tarte aux champignons, the mushroom one. As far as frozen dishes, the tikka masala is very popular.
Any good TJ’s tea flavors for iced tea?
The chai, mint, & winter wakeup
Best bagged salad?
The Elote is good, but lemony arugula is my fav.
What cheese would you use for the creamy broccoli soup on p. 63?
I’m going to use Unexpected Cheddar
If having an expert shopper in your network sounds fun, let me know and I’ll see if my mom wants to set up a secret text or email list.
3. Her coworkers are genuinely nice
I’ve been into the store several times now and everyone seems to be as nice in real life as they seem during checkout. From the outside it seems that there actually is a store culture that attracts good people, and that those people enjoy talking to each other about Boston sports, their hobbies as musicians, their families, and food. I know she likes her coworkers, and I am very grateful for them.
4. Her role in training new employees
My mom was recently telling Kelly and me that one of her favorite things to do was train with young people who were starting their first job ever. She felt like in addition to teaching the how-to’s of the job, she was also able to help answer all kinds of other questions that they had about professional life.
This makes a lot of sense to me—one of my summer jobs during college was at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and my mom worked there as well so we often shared a commute, which meant that we shared a lot of talk about work and working.
It also makes a lot of sense because this line is also from one of her reviews:
“You communicate with all of our crew, getting to know them and sharing stories about your life that enhance our neighborhood store energy … You are often the first person we think of for training new hires as you want them to appreciate our store and set them off on the right path.
I feel like this is a tangible example of the kinds of positives people worry about losing with fewer face-to-face interaction, and I also very much feel like it is proof that knowledge and experience doesn’t just transfer one way because I know how much my mom has learned and benefitted from her time with these young people as well.
Put more simply, I feel strongly that it’s not just that younger people can learn from older people, it’s that younger people can learn from older people at the same time older people are learning from younger people. I’m going to try to keep that attitude even as I continue to transition into the older side of that equation.
5. She seems very happy
This is the most important, and for this I return to the quote up top:
“Making conversation about the small daily things that are really the big things in people’s lives—food, traffic, the weather … doing work where she could see tangible results in the moment—you pack groceries, you cheer up customers, you stock items. At the end of the day, you’ve done something concrete and useful.”
I think my mom takes great pride in providing this service to the community in Allston where she grew up, at a store that’s a half-mile from the old Skating Club of Boston where my grandfather coached hockey, and I think that’s pretty cool.
What’s your dream job? Want to talk about a work challenge you’re having? jed@kindandfunny.com.