Trouble in Paradise

     I spent what looks to be my last week in jewelry tagging, sorting, and pricing (this part is important!) different pieces. I had an interesting experience on Wednesday that reminded me that service is not always easy, and we do make mistakes. It started off as my days normally do, grabbing a big clump of tangled necklaces and beginning detangling. There was a new volunteer who came in for the first time and she was working on jewelry with me. We talked a lot about everything from school to her job and to her hobbies, one of which is selling items on Ebay. She collected a little pile of jewelry and asked if I could price three of the items for her, which I am able to do and have been doing. She wanted what looked to me like broken jewelry; a bracelet missing a charm, a necklace with no clasp, and a small metal whistle. I priced it cheaply because I assumed the pieces would not have sold otherwise, she was presenting them as such, and I was trying to be kind being as it was her first day. I later was told that all of the items were sterling silver or vintage pieces, and she had much more in the back from our “good stuff” box. 

            While I did not get in trouble for accidentally aiding in potential fraud, it made me think a lot about how we do not always know people’s intentions. At a place like the Seton Store, I assumed that volunteers would come in with a goal of only service, but we do not live in a perfect world where that is the case. All that I can do is provide the best well-intentioned service that I can, but I cannot expect that of everyone else. For my pictures this week, I included a picture of the necklace bundle that I was untangling obliviously as this was occurring. My second picture is what I walked into on Thursday morning. It is all the items from this volunteer’s pile with accurate pricing done by Kenny and Jess. All the items are above $10, and some were even up to almost $400. This was definitely a learning experience for me, and I now know that I must put more thought into what I am doing and work to not be oblivious like that again, especially when it affects $700+ worth of products.