Bed Bath & Beyond

From August 1991 until November 1992 I worked at the Bed Bath & Beyond in the Gurnee Mills Mall in Lake County, Illinois. I worked about 15 hours a week in the Bath section selling toilet seats, bathroom sink rinse cups, toothbrush holders, shower curtains, and so on.

It was a good job for a 16 year-old, and because I was there as the mall was opening (when the labor was tight), they paid me a little higher than the $5.25 minimum wage -- a whole $5.50 per hour. Big bucks indeed.

I wish I could say that it taught me the value of hard work and responsibility, but for me the biggest benefit was that I could do things on my own. I hated asking my parents for money; being able to earn it also meant I could do with it was I pleased.

If I wanted to get something from the food court instead of eating at home, I could eat out. If I wanted to get a book from the nearby Waldenbooks, I could afford it. Having a job in high school menat freedom.

It also taught me how to save up for a goal. Money spent is money that can't be used for someting better. And because I learned what it took to earn it, I didn't fritter my paycheck away on impulse shopping. In fact, I saved up enough to travel to France -- twice -- in 1992, and still have enough left over to get souvenirs for people.

Having a part-time job also allowed me to pay for the increase in my parents' car insurance -- the key to getting my driver's license -- which allowed me to use the car to go on dates. That was empowering.

And when I had a car accident with a Nissan 300ZX in a dealership parking lot, working at Bed Bath & Beyond helped me pay off the $1500 I then owed. So there's that.

Last month I read about BB&B filing for bankruptcy, and I feel a bit sad about that. Not much -- just a little bit -- because I understand the business reasons behind it. No, it wasn't kharma because they stopped selling Mike Lindell's pillows. And no, it wasn't because they "went woke" -- that's the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.

It was that they stopped being relevant to customers. With the pandemic, Amazon, and a series of management missteps, they became a big-box relic of a former time.

So while I appreciate the memories, I honestly can't remember the last time I shopped there. And that probably says enough about why they're going out of business.