There is really only one thing that I value above anything else, and that's a good day's work.
No really, I love working. There's something rewarding about finishing projects, moving up, helping people, just generally getting shit done.
Unfortunately, my current job gives little reward, no matter how hard I try.

I am not a natural salesperson. I lack the bubbly, flirtatious personality that sales requires. My dealings with people are overcourteous, and not in the least bit as sleazy as my corporate wants us to be. The place I work, selling shoes, wants us to pretty much harass our customers. Annoy them into a sale. Convince them to buy things they don't need. This isn't my first sales job, but it's the first where I've been asked to do things that I feel are immoral... I know they're not, but if you know me at all, my politeness outdoes my drive to succeed, by far. I want to help the customers, not trick them into spending all their money.

I am a firm believer in the Golden Rule. Treat others as you wish to be treated. But even the Golden Rule is selfish. So, let's get philosophical in this.

Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative was an answer to the metaphysical question What Is Moral?

And, here it is:

1st: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."
2nd: "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end."
3rd: "Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends."

If I'm going to compare this to sales, I should probably explain this for the layman.

The first formulation is saying that you should not do anything that it would be irrational for EVERYONE to do. Like suicide... it would be irrational to have everyone off themselves (although that can be debated, ha-ha.)
The second formulation is basically saying don't treat anyone as a means to an end. If you don't actually know what that means, the "end" is the goal, and the "means" is what you use to achieve that goal. So, it isn't okay to use someone... unless you also value them intrinsically, that is.
The third formulation is just a conclusion.

Those of you who are in sales are probably seeing the problem already.

Now, the first formulation doesn't really apply... well, I could make it apply, but I'm mostly concerned with the customer aspect of this. So I'm going to skip it.

Like I said, the second formulation tells us not to use people to benefit ourselves. But isn't that what retail sales are about?

We're using the customers to make money, and often trying to convince them to spend more than they had intended. We use them to better our position at our job. We use them to receive a shiny gold star on our charts, basically. The only reason customers are there are to present a challenge. The ultimate goal, to empty that wallet. Corporate companies sit below big fat white men in business suits whose biggest concern is colored green -- not the fleshy pinks and browns that the customers come in. Their focus is of course passed down to us, the lowly serfs, and with that comes the pressure.

Where, in any of this, are we treating the customer as an end? Are we acting morally in our extrinsic milking of the cash cows that roam our stores?

I try very hard to keep up my duties as a salesperson without acting immorally. My number one aim is to find the customer something that works for what they need. It's not hard to tell who just wants something frivolous and who is looking for the best value they can get. And maybe growing up without money for unnecessary things has ruined me, because I still shop with the idea that every dollar I save is another dollar I can eat with. Every customer who looks like they just need shoes without holes sparks my sympathy, and I wonder about the mothers that come in -- if they're struggling like mine was, to raise kids on one meager paycheck. How can I try to push more items or higher price tags on them? And I probably read people completely wrong, too. It could be that that mother has a rich husband who gave them his Visa Infinite card to get them out of his hair. Should I feel bad about pushing everything I possibly can on that person? I would still be treating them only as a means.

I am pretty terrible at what I do, simply for the reason that I can't rationalize doing this to people. And even in the self-centric ways of the Golden Rule... I know I hate it when I am pestered while I shop. But I guess that's my job.

Speaking of, I'd better get in the shower. I have a long day of swindling ahead of me.