feeling invisible in the retail world

I felt like I didn’t exist. Like there was this whole world outside of me. That people didn’t see me when I was just sitting there at the side of the road. Everyone’s lives carry on when they pass me by and going to work. Fellow students pass happily chatting about their dramatic lives and what new outfit they are going to wear tonight.

So there I was waiting for customers to come by and buy something at least. Spending an hour at the side of the road was the worst thing I ever had to do. It made me feel inferior to everyone else. Although I only had to spend an hour doing something I would never do in my daily life, selling earrings felt like a lifetime of being a hawker.

Business was slow today because only a few people would come by, most of them to just look at what was on display. I was so irritated with the fact that they were just asking the prices of the earrings and never buy anything. And I still had to smile every time they asked their friends if the earrings were nice enough for them to buy, and I also found myself having to convince them. Because after all if no one buys anything, there won’t be profit made for the day.
I was bored out of my mind the whole hour I was there. To think I am just there sitting doing nothing made me want to scream. I was so irritated that no one was even coming to buy anything. Although I only did this for an hour, I realised that this woman has to do this for every day of her life. And she has probably been doing it for years. Was I being selfish in being so angry? Did I have the right to be frustrated for only an hour?
When people passed and just looked at me, they would also look away. I felt embarrassed that I was there. I felt like just telling everyone who was passing by that I was just a journalism student and this was a project so that people didn’t think I’m poor. Wow that was a very horrible thing to say. But reality is I wouldn’t want to be sitting there selling earrings. But part of me also came to realise that this woman regards selling these earrings her daily job. If not they would starve. Then I started feeling sorry for her because the R7 people pay for the earrings contribute in her lifestyle and that is what she uses to get by in life. Ya ne, life is unfair………