Apparel

Genre: Lyric Essay, Dramatic Monologue

"This is the store and we sell cotton; even these jackets that are nylon, if anyone should ask, have cotton here on the collar; nothing is made in a sweatshop; that’s called vertically integrated; everything is arranged by style and color; we only keep one size in each style, except for black and white; in black and white we keep two of each size on the floor; if you see more than one of the same size, pull it off the floor and put it over there for the men who work downstairs to take away; if someone asks for a size they can’t find, use the radio; ask the men down stairs if they have the size; if they do, tell them to bring it upstairs; don’t look bored; say hello to every costumer; when there are no costumers, don’t stand around; separate the hangers so that there’s an even space between each of them; every time a costumer buys something it needs to be replaced so another costumer can buy the same one; that’s what this rack of clothes is; the men downstairs will bring them up and put them on the rack; these clothes need to go back onto the floor; Samantha, put these back on the floor; don’t cluster with who ever you’re working with; stay in your zone; don’t leave the floor to hang out with the men downstairs; don’t try on clothes when you’re working; don’t steal clothes; I have to check your bag every time you leave so you don’t steal clothes; so if you steal clothes, don’t put them in your bag; a girl in the Chelsea store got fired for stealing clothes; she wasn’t very smart; don’t feel special if the owner hits on you; the owner hits on everyone; don’t check your Myspace on the floor computer; use the computer downstairs; if the men who work downstairs are using the computer, tell them you’re on your break and you want to check your Myspace and make them get off; don’t do drugs at work; if you do drugs, use the bathroom on the floor and not the bathroom downstairs and don’t be obvious and clench your jaw and sniffle; don’t drink with the men downstairs after closing; if you drink, drink upstairs but drink in between those two racks where the cameras can’t see you; the store always supposed to look perfect; when the owner comes everything actually should be perfect; his assistant will call and tell you if he’s coming; if he’s coming you have one hour to make things perfect; if he doesn’t come in an hour you have keep things looking perfect until he comes; when he comes everyone needs to be wearing the right clothes, even the men downstairs; if I’m not here, Samantha will make sure everyone is wearing the right clothes; when he comes he’ll swear and scream and yell at you for not keeping things perfect; don’t look scared when he yells at you; at least you’re not the men downstairs; the men downstairs get yelled at the most because they never do anything."