REI

I've mentioned before that I now work at REI, which is a statement I'm not afraid of making, unlike when I was previously working at Target - probably because I have very few poor things to say about REI, which is the opposite of what it was like at Target. I'm not sure if REI is the place that I want to spend the rest of my life - retail in general has its ups and downs, especially for someone like me who doesn't particularly like being around large numbers of people - but I would argue that it is easily the best place for me as of right now.

I forget if I've talked about this on here before, but I suffer from pretty major depression, and have only recently been diagnosed for it. I've tried for a very long time to ignore and bury this fact - doing so has not stopped it. It has not helped me. As of now, however, acknowledging it has not particularly helped either. But months of acknowledgment are not much in the face of years of hiding. Which brings me to the reason why REI has been so spectacular for me.

REI, for the unaware, is a co-operative and not a business, which means that they are not owned and controlled by stocks, but rather their members - and their members are their customers. Quite literally - to become a member is a one-time fee of twenty dollars, non-recurring, it lasts the rest of your life, and it gives you not only access to exclusive dividends and discounts, but gives you the right to vote on REI's board of directors. Target sure as hell won't offer you that. And it's not like Costco, which requires a membership to get through the door. An REI membership is completely optional. But what have you got to lose? Hell, we don't even keep the money - we donate one hundred percent of membership fees to national parks and services.

This puts employees - and particularly the higher-ups - in a rather unique position compared to other companies. Money is not the bottom line. Is it important? Of course. You have to make money to continue operations. But people are the bottom line. We don't want you to come back so that we get more money - we want you to come back because you enjoy being in the store, sharing your stories of where you've been and where you're going, and get the advice of people who do those same kinds of things and know a ton about the different products you're going to be buying.

But a customer can't enjoy shopping if the employee doesn't enjoy working. Which is why, when I told my manager that I suffer from depression, and that as it has recently gotten worse it has become more difficult for me to work, despite how I feel about the company, he was understanding. Supremely understanding. He wasn't mad at me for wanting to leave early. He wasn't upset with me for hiding this fact about myself up to now. Rather, he was proud of me for being brave enough to admit it, and he wanted to help. He told me how to get a leave if I needed it so that what I'm going through would not impact my standing with the company. He offered his own advice from his own experiences. He gave me tissues and literally got up and hugged me when I couldn't hold it in anymore.

And I know that I can trust him.

I've had good experiences at my particular REI, and I've been to a few others that I really couldn't speak ill of either. I don't know a lot about the big picture. But if my manager, a man who is willing to do so much to help me when I need it, tells me that when he sees what headquarters and the new CEO are doing he gets excited for the future of REI, so do I.