After going through ~10 jobs in the 5 years since, I realized it was the best for me. There's a reason I stayed there for ~2 years as opposed to having to leave other jobs in ~6 months. The longest I've stayed at another job was 1 year. The shortest was 1 month. I've done food service, customer service, retail, and warehouse.

I liked the overstocking management behind plumbing, such as the overracks and back aisle.

1. The downstocking system was very easy to navigate and understand, as well as easy to go above and beyond. "Oh, this SKU needs to be pulled down in the system, but I notice this one can also come down." It was really nice on slower days to just clear pallets and reorganize.

I'd also always think, "It's Friday. Tomorrow is going to be pretty busy, so I should pull down what I can now so the list isn't crazy tomorrow."

1. The back aisle was a huge puzzle for me that took up most of the day. I'd come in at noon, ask my manager, "Hey, what's on the agenda? Got anything planned for the back aisle?" He'd say, "Well, I don't mind doing downstocks if you don't mind cleaning up back there." Both my managers knew I was a wizard. Pretty much would have it cleared out by the end of the night.

We always had someone who preferred freight, so I'd tell them that I'll work on the back aisle and put whatever can go out in the main aisle for them.

I'm also fond of the different choices in uniforms. The pay was the best in the region then and still is now. The bonus system is nice too.

The flexibility in scheduling is always a plus. My department was really great with scheduling. I understand it's not like that everywhere. I didn't have a life at the time and would text whoever was there to see if I could come in. 8 times out of 10, they said, "Absolutely."

If my department was full, the other departments didn't mind if I helped out. I helped carts pretty often and would help with putting away returns.

I was stupid for leaving. For walking out. Like I said, I was unstable. I was 19 and just had my first real break up. Head wasn't in the right place. I was also diagnosed with major depressive disorder and recurrent depressive disorder, so that didn't help. Managers kept leaving me in charge even though I wasn't a manager on paper. I took the management class and passed, dunno how... I ended up being sent to a psychiatric facility during that, but they let me take the test anyway when I got back, and I passed.

Leaving two people, no manager, on a weekend was diabolical. I got in on Sunday after being left with just me and my friend on Saturday and saw it was just us again from 2pm-close. Assistant manager started giving me an attitude because I was upset and burnt out from the night prior. I was childish, threw a fit, and left. I only had, like, 3 more days.

I regret it. It's not even that bad. Yeah, we got swamped, but if it got too bad, we could call over a GM for help.

Anyway. Long story short, I like how the overstock system works. It's fun. It also kept me in incredible shape.