Whenever someone asks me why I love working at Goodwill, I always tell them it's because of the variety of work. You never know what's going to happen because you have no control over what's coming through the donation doors. You might find an antique Bakelite phone worth a few hundred dollars, a book you read decades ago and completely forgot existed... or sure, you might find a vibrator with a working battery.
Never a boring day!
This is a complaint I hear most often, but usually from the same customers. Someone sees something they like, then they realize we're asking them to pay for it. It usually goes, "I don't understand how you can call yourselves a non-profit when you charge for things you're given for free."
What always nibbles at me is that most of these customers are regulars who have made this comment dozens of times, and each time we've explained what we do with the money they give us and who we help with them. And yes, that we're a non-profit organization. It doesn't affect their attitude. We don't have many customers who complain in order to see if we'll give something away for free, but they certainly exist.
This guy does this at least once a month. We've begun referring to him as "The Red Baron" because of the trash-filled red Camry he drives up in. Each time he'll have something that was once valuable - laptops, monitors, hardcover books - and he'll try to see if the donation attendant will pay him for the items.
The guy has some mental struggles and he isn't all there. We're pretty sure he doesn't remember us telling him that we don't purchase donations or do trade-ins, because he's back every month talking to the same people. He outwardly seems like a nice guy and he's always polite. I do wonder where he finds all of his stuff, though.
Freaking Cellcom.
So, at Goodwill we're accustomed to people dropping off donations after-hours. Some folks work third shift and you gotta do what you gotta do. We spend the first half hour of each morning bringing in bags and boxes that get stacked outside our door. Some of it is good product we can resell and a lot of it is stuff we have to recycle or salvage.
Cellcom took the cake when they built a new store in my town. After they got all moved in they proceeded to pelt us with calls asking us to pick up the leftover furniture in their building. Our Goodwill does not do pick ups, and for good reason, but that's another story. Needless to say we told Cellcom this and they eventually got pissy and stopped calling.
And then one morning I pull into the parking lot and sitting there in the MIDDLE of the lot was a huge freaking white desk. I mean this thing was massive. We measured it out at 12 feet long and the damn thing was curved like a crescent, so it sure as hell wasn't someone's home computer desk. It took six of us to carry it across the parking lot and into the store. Six fully-grown adults for god's sake. After grumbling about it not being placed at the door, we went about assessing the condition and figuring on a price.
And in the top drawer, taped to the bottom, was a list of usernames and passwords. Next to it was a longer list of store numbers. Cellcom stores.
We called Cellcom's new store and thanked the manager for the desk, and gave him the option of coming to the store to pick up his staff's login data or have us mail it to his corporate office for safe destruction. I've never seen someone duck in and out of a Goodwill as quickly as that asshole.
We sold the desk for $400
At our Goodwill (North-Central Wisconsin) all full-time team members are given unlimited bereavement time regardless of their relationship to the deceased. We did this because we didn't feel we could make the decision of who was really important in someone's life. It doesn't matter if your parent, best friend or your cat dies. If you need to take time off, we ask you to take whatever you need. No limits on how many days.
This has been our policy for nearly a decade and we have yet to have anyone abuse it. We've actually saved money on bereavement pay because team members usually only take two to three days before deciding to return to work. Back when we offered 3 days, people would naturally take all three days off. It has worked out for everyone remarkably well.
I love giving tours. If you can't tell, I love just about anything when it comes to educating people about Goodwill. It's the first job I've had where I've felt completely invested in and it never ceases to be a rewarding experience.
That said, when customers ask questions I try to answer them any way I can. That includes giving them a full tour of the facility should it mean that they'll leave with a better understanding of what their donations do to help the community.
