Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

WARNING! WALL OF TEXT APPROACHING.

For starters, I know, I haven't been active on the forums... pretty much at all except in the "What cigar did you smoke today" discussion, haha, but that has a dandy explanation, I assure you.

I have been employed at a lovely electronics store which shall remain unnamed for almost two excruciatingly horrid years. Cut-throat sales, lying to customers, fear-mongering management, this place has all the works and all these things they wanted me to do that I just couldn't do, so I started thinking about leaving. Yeah, just thinking, not really doing anything else.

At some point during this mental excursion in the job hunting world, I started visiting a really, and I mean REALLY nice B&M in san diego to get some smokes and possibly some pipes in the future if I liked the joint enough to visit on a regular basis. Turns out, I absolutely LOVE the joint, and I come back at least once a week.

Over time visiting the shop, sometimes alone, sometimes with my best friend or my girlfriend who has recently become enthralled with vanilla flavored smokes (I knew I'd get her someday!) I got to know all the employees very well, and have made some great new friends in the process, including the owner's son, who basically runs the place these days, though of course with his father's input. Turns out, the place is a little hard up for workers and is taking applicants. At the time, my job wasn't horrid enough for me to quit, and they weren't in a rush to hire.

Flash over to current job: Our cool manager is quitting because he hates the place, so we get a new manager. Holy mackerel things have just become horrible overnight. New manager is mean, controlling, and is obviously trying to get rid of us old crew as fast as possible to hire new people so she can brainwash them into doing exactly what she wants.

Flash back to B&M: I tell owner's son I want a job. He says hell yeah gimme your resume and we'll see what we can do, but I warn you we have a lot of applicants.

Current job ~a week later: That's it. Manager just told me to lie to customers to improve sales. I'm done. I put in two weeks, she gave me a week of work, I am now done there, thank goodness.

And now, after hearing the owner's son tell me he's going to hire me multiple times, I'm going in today for "official interview type thing" and will probably start working at the cigar shop within the week!

Long story short, I'm going to be working as a sales bloke at my now favorite cigar shop, making more money than i did at the electronics store and getting to smoke all day and actually help customers! -(P I don't think I've been this happy in a long time, and my excitement level is through the roof!

Just thought I'd share my excitement and story with you guys. Thanks for listening/reading, y'all! :ss

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

glad to hear Ian, hoping for something similar myself

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats, man! That rocks. Sales jobs where you have to lie to survive suck your soul out.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Good luck.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Hell yeah! Congrats! We now expect all the inside scoop for upcoming releases.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats.
Which B&M?
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Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats brother!!! Hope everything keeps going that way for you!!!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

that's fantastic, congrats!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats, Ian!:tu You Did The Right Thing!:)

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats on the awesome job

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Be forewarned, sometimes you have to do that to sell cigars. A customer will ask, 'how's this cigar?' and you reply 'it's not too bad'. Knowing you can't stand it. :r

Welcome to the club! :tu

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

ROCK ON! :banger

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

:tu CONGRATZZZ!!! Getting paid to smoke... :tu

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Wow... That is awesome. Congrats man.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats, Ian!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

I have never heard a B&M employee honestly tell me they love their job, so be fore-warned that it might be
better than electronics hustling, but can also be frustrating, especially given the tight margins I am sure we will
all be waiting to hear how this goes.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats on the new opening door for you!!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Good news, Ian! :tu

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congratulations!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

I guess I am numero uno! :noon

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Boy you said it Dan... Your statement just gave me a horrid mental flash back...


Congrats on the new job!!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Sounds like a great opportunity and at the right time...good luck

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

GL, I made it a month at a B&M. The people that own those places are lying f**king scumbags. Not to mention cheap as all hell. It wasn't worth it. I found out they turn over 20-25 Employees a year.

I hope you have better luck than I did.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats, best of luck to you in your new venture

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Good deal! Enjoy it. Try all kinds of smokes so you have an opinion when folks ask. Hopefully it all works out.

BTW, I wanted to be a gynecologist when I was a teenager. Thank God I never was!!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Best of luck...that is in not owing the owner some money at the end of each payday. :r :r :r

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats brother!!! Have fun in the new job!!!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congratulations Ian!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Guess I'm two then :D

Good luck trying to not buy everything in the store. After buying 8 cigars in my first week I had to tell one of the guys I work with to stop me from buying any more for at least 2 weeks.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

:tu

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats Ian. Double congrats because you have a sweet name like Ian!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Best of luck with your new job!
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Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Awesome news and congrats Ian!! Hope it all works out for you!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats!

BTW, Fry's or Best Buy?

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats! And God's blessings in the new job!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

You are one lucky man Ian! I have been wanting to work in a smoke shop for some time now, anything to do with stogies and pipes I would work at! Maybe one of these days I will hit the jackpot like you. Good luck with the new job and have fun!

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Wow! Everyone thanks so much for all the support and kind words!

So, Story continued from today: I went in today for the final sit-down and talk and whatnot, turns out, I'm already hired. Done. Just got a couple more forms to fill out, then I start soon. Will update when I know for sure when I start.

Now, to answer individual posts, haha.

Ahaha that happens, but the guys who work there now usually respond like this: "Do you want my opinion, or what the cigar is officially supposed to taste like?" Did the same thing at the ol' job, but with electronics, haha.

That may be true for many places, but this place is great. I've asked the employees, and almost all of them straight up said they really like if not love working there :)

Wow... that sounds like a sucky b&m... like, really really bad... this one isn't like that. they keep employees an average of 6 years or so, and it's a fairly tight-knit group of good folks. I'm friends with the owner's son and have made friends with the owner, and I am very happy to say they are, in fact, not lying scumbags, haha. Not in the least.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

I'd be genuinely frightened of that, honestly, if it weren't for the fact that I get all the free house brand pipe tobacco I want all the time as long as I'm smoking it then and there. That should keep the cigar costs down a bit, though I know there's no way I can abstain completely, haha.

Darn tootin'! Thanks, man. I do like my name, quite a bit.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Hehehe... neither. F*&#ing Radio Shack :td That place is HORRID to work for.

It's all a matter of persistence and luck. You'll get it man. Just find a place you really like, become familiar with all the employees, think if it's really something you'd want to do, then ask the owner/manager if they're taking apps. YOU CAN DO IT! :D

Aaaaah, the $64,000 question... now that I'm officially hired, I can tell y'all :D

Down in San Diego, there's a cool area called Old Town, basically a 1800's themed state park. It's a bit of a tourist trap, but it's got some great shops and people there, this place included. The name of the shop is Racine & Laramie's, and its been there in its present for for about 40 years, nestled next to an Olde Time Wells Fargo and a spice and tea shop that's closed down temporarily, lol. If any of you guys and gals are ever in the area, please come and visit us! -(P

Also I'm sorry about the seperation of posts... needed to be done for some odd reason... only way it would let me post it all due to an apparent image limit :/

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

I never would have guessed Battery Hut, your description sounded so much like what I've heard of the Fry's stores up here in the Bay Area.

All the best on the new job bro.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

You're painting with a very broad brush. :rolleyes:

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

A very, very broad brush. I know a few cigar shop owners here locally. They are very nice stand-up people. I wish Ian the best in his new line of work.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Indeed! Jeff, who owns Racine & Laramie's is a very very stand up gentleman who has been running his tobacco shop for over 40 years, and I couldn't ask for a better boss.

Dave, who runs the joint (basically) is a man I highly respect and enjoy working with, and he's glad to have me on the team too, which makes me quite happy. They want me and the other employees to succeed, because that makes them succeed, and they are willing to help us (the employees) in any way they can so long as it is within their power.

last night, I asked one of the other workers if he even liked working there, and he just looked at me, pipe in hand, and told me "I f*&^ing love it here, man." And he meant it, otherwise, I wouldn't see him and every other employee hanging out at the shop on their days off, hahaha.

This is going to be great. Possibly the best job I've ever had, and I start sometime this week.

And again, thanks everyone for your kind words and encouragement! :tu

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congrats. Looks like a great place to work. May want to look over Tobbaconist U. Some great info if you are getting ready to serve customers. Can not wait to see how you like the job.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

congratulations, I wouldn't mind working part time or something in a cigar related field. Sounds like an open door to enjoy.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

My boss actually just recommended I check it out. Been reading for a few hours now on and off haha :D

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Congratulations Ian :tu

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

That's very cool, congrats! I've always wanted to work at a cigar shop.

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

And here I am, necro-ing my old thread, with a very late update! :3

So far so good with the cigar shop job. I still love it, and overall, it's the best job I've ever had. Employees are mostly awesome and smoking all day is great. It's in a tourist town, so lots and lots of foreign visitors which is always interesting, but we're definitely crazy busy sometimes, and having 60+ people in your tiny shop while almost none of them know English and ALL of them want your help can be a bit... flustering.

I've learned a LOT about cigars and the business behind it, but I'm still nowhere near a master of tobacco knowledge. Will be posting a picture of myself smoking at the shop soon enough here on the Pictures Of You Smoking thread.

Well, that about sums it up for this post, hopefully you'll be seeing a bit more of me in the coming weeks :ss

Re: Bwahaha! Big announcement and a dream come true!
 

Better buy a couple copies of Rosseta Stone :r