Blue Dot, Good Employee

I grin and bear it a lot at work.

I live in a town that leans very differently than I do. And I work at the local big name bookstore — which means I ring up whatever people bring to my register.

Sometimes that’s political memoirs. Sometimes it’s titles that frame people like me as misguided, dangerous, or simply wrong. I scan the barcode. I put it in the bag. I say, “You’re all set — have a great day.”

What they don’t know is that I’m a pagan woman. I keep a small altar at home. I have a quiet spiritual life, a whole interior world, that most of the people standing across that counter would never guess at. And that’s fine. That’s not what the register is for.

Customer service means serving everyone. It means not debating. Not correcting. Not making a customer’s trip to the bookstore into something they didn’t ask for. My job is to help people find stories — and I actually love that part. I love it when a kid discovers a series and can’t get the first book into their bag fast enough. I love hitting my goals. I like being good at what I do.

But holding your tongue for a full shift is its own kind of work. It’s not just patience — it’s a skill you develop, a muscle you flex and flex and flex until you get to your car and finally exhale. Some days the conversations stay surface-level and it’s easy. Other days something brushes up against something real, and you just... keep smiling. Keep moving. Because that’s the job, and you respect it enough to do it right.

So if I seem more outspoken online sometimes, it’s not because I’m itching for conflict. It’s because everyone needs a place where they don’t have to be “on.” Where they don’t have to nod and wait for the transaction to end.

Work Becky is steady. Polite. Efficient. She genuinely likes helping you.

Online Becky sometimes exhales.

Both are real. Both are doing their best. And honestly, I think a lot of people reading this have their own version of the same split. The face you wear to get through the day, and the one you come home to.

You deserve both.