Goodwill to all...

       Miriam-Webster Dictionary

Full Definition of GOODWILL

1

a :  a kindly feeling of approval and support :  benevolent interest or concern

b (1) :  the favor or advantage that a business has acquired especially through its brands and its good reputation (2) :  the value of projected earnings increases of a business especially as part of its purchase price (3) :  the excess of the purchase price of a company over its book value which represents the value of goodwill as an intangible asset for accounting purposes

2

a :  cheerful consent

b :  willing effort

 

"Orientation" 

I went to Goodwill today for an orientation that would allow me to use their facilities to look for a job. I figured since I couldn't find a job on my own, and since I have zero income, they could help me out. Alas, I was five minutes late and then was told they don't have orientation on Fridays because they close early.

More and more I realize our government is shutting down on Fridays and now so are non-profit agencies. 

I signed in, thanked the young woman and left.

"As Is"

Right next door to the huge building of Bank of America (Market St. & 11th) is the Goodwill Industries "As Is" store and warehouse sorting facility, where you can buy boxes of pre-sorted "as is" items in bulk. 

As I perused a box outside a man told me, "That's my stuff." 

Oops! I stepped back, taking in the 4-5 boxes, all my height and three feet wide, stuffed with an assortment of housewares, luggage, pictures and useful-for-other-purposes-bric-a-brac.   

I saw a woman taking out a bundle of hangers and wondered if the guy had a store of his own.

"You can buy your own boxes inside." He informed me. 

"Wow! Thanks!" I replied, though I could never buy in bulk as he was doing or have a place to put it all. I thought of my own stuff I was paying for in my three storage sheds. 

I went inside the warehouse and was stunned at the amount of stuff inside. It seemed as if over a hundred boxes (my size height) were around, along with mile-long tables of clothing which were sold by the pound. 

The man at the front desk register informed me there were items like Italian brand shoes, etc. 

"All good stuff!" He assured me. 

I nodded, still awestruck at the sight. 

I meekly poked around, mainly at oil painted pictures before two men came around to tell me that the boxes were for "wholesale only". I guess other people pick through the boxes and rearrange items all the time. 

The sheer number and mountain of boxes, shoes, clothing and housewares astounded me. To my disappointment, I saw a lot of oil, pastel, acrylic handmade pictures that had been thrown out, a.k.a. "donated". 

"That's where my oil paintings are going." I thought ruefully.

"Not-so-good Goods"

I also saw a number of awesome movies on VHS, "Edward Scissor Hands", "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and other Disney films that looked like the ones I had given away previously. 

Clothes, purses and shoes were the most disposable and took up over a quarter (if not half) the warehouse. I guess fashion in this country is very disposable. 

I couldn't imagine anyone wanting dirty purses, or old, scuffed-up shoes to wear. Clothes have to be washed (or dry cleaned) which is a pain. 

There was a lot of electronics being disposed of: microwaves, TV's (made obsolete by the government and corporate mandated digital cable), blenders, foot baths, vacuums, lamps, tons of computer e-waste. 

I wondered what you'd do with it all. Perhaps they could be stripped down for copper wire scrap and metal parts. But that would require extra labor... so much waste!

Also, I saw childhood toys thrown out, as childhood is so temporary, we spend a lot on toys that later become worthless.

"Sorting out the rubbish"

Working in a place like this must put consumerism in perspective. I know I'd buy a lot less "disposable" goods if I worked at Goodwill... or maybe not. It could turn you into a hoarder, I suppose, since you have easy access to all the goods. 

There were a lot of office and school supplies that if sorted correctly, could be of use to non-profits and schools. But there's so much red-tape involved and the boxes were meant to be sold "as is". So likely, it would be thrown in the trash later. 

I wonder if they have to sort things twice, if people dispose of the "as is" they don't want? 

Then I came upon the sight of the sorting facility where again, another man warded me off. "That's our sorting facility--off limits. Please stay behind the yellow line." 

"Yes, I see it." I said, obviously. Did he expect me to just run out and wildly start grabbing clothes off the rolling conveyor belt? Maybe other people had done that...

As I watched, I was amazed and then depressed.

Men on forklifts brought metal crates of clothes around to be dumped into a sorting area where women with masks and gloves on went through them and dropped them onto a conveyor belt to be further sorted by other women in various boxes. 

On the other side, people took clothes from the boxes and hung them up on hangers into respective areas: cashmere, vintage, tops, etc. I didn't see them cleaning the clothes but I guessed that would be done after--maybe by a giant dry cleaning hose of some sort. 

There was very little interaction between the workers. Most of the women sorters were: Asian, Hispanic/Latino and Black. I saw no White women sorting. 

In the hanger rack area, other women were working. Only two were men (White), one of whom was a man much older than retirement age. I know how little social security pays in this country--not enough to live on, and with employment and age discrimination at an all time high, it may have been the only job available for him. 

No one spoke to each other. No one wore earbuds or listened to music, there was no music to break the monotony and it was quite loud in the sorting warehouse. A clock was stationed in center to keep track of the time: 10:30 a.m.. 

All the workers were working at a very fast pace, standing on their feet and doing repetitive movement for hours at a time. Not all the women wore masks or gloves (I'm guessing those item cost extra). 

"Refuse"

I thought of the sort of work I'd be doing, if I had to work in the warehouse. Most likely, it would be the only job offered to me, even though I have retail experience, etc. 

How boring it would be! What reward on the job could I look forward to? No interaction at all with any employees. Did they talk over lunch? Were they given lunch at all? Or perhaps their shift ended by then (as is often the case when employed only 20 hours a week or less). 

It would not be a job that has a lot of respect. If I were to apply to another job and an employer sees "Goodwill warehouse worker" on my résumé, what impression does that make? Not a good one. 

"Oh you're not a team player!" They would say, nothing that there's no interaction between the workers. 

"What do you do at your job?" They would also ask.

What do you say then? Even working at Goodwill (known for training the down-and-out) looks bad to employers. You'll never get a job at Macy's that way.

The upward-bound jobs Goodwill does provide are only open to: 18-22 year-olds, as I found out when I applied to a job with Levi-Strauss, who said that at 31-years-old, I was "too old" for the position. 

I guess Goodwill is good for those who really do need a hand up, those who never got the chance they deserved due to socioeconomic restrictions based on: race, location of birth, poverty, current living situation and schools available. 

But for those who've had opportunities available but were denied any chance of advancement, working at Goodwill may be quite a fall from teh employment ladder.

It's a lot harder to climb up toward the top when covered in mud. Your feet keep slipping on the rungs and your grip isn't as strong when covered in the blisters of mistreatment and constant disappointment. It's especially hard to reach the top when the employment ladder keeps shaking on the unstable, muddy, ground. And when society takes its foot and kicks your ladder off from its point, you can't help but fall down, into the filthy muck below. Try climbing your way up from that. How many times can you stand it?

Goodwill makes jobs out of people's waste. It's a shame that with all this country's wealth, we throw away so much without a second thought. 

Our society has thrown its greatest asset and resource away: our human potential. No amount of goodwill can ever make it right.

 

Emerald Behrens, currently resides in San Francisco, where she writes about social injustice, homelessness and human frailty in general. She is a freelance writer, poet and author of "My Private Collection". She may be contacted at: emerarudo83 (at) gmail (dot) com.

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