When we moved to Florida in 2017 my intent was to slowly move towards retirement, but to always keep busy with some work. Photography was still a possibility, but no one knew me in Florida and breaking in to a new market takes time and considerable effort.
A friend who owns a large Judaica store in the area offered me a job selling in the store. Although I had never done retail sales before, I was ready to try. Although there were aspects of selling that I enjoyed (mostly the personal interactions with customers), it was a bit much for me, so I decided to work there only part-time.
A few months after I started there, I was asked if I could take over the store’s bookkeeping. Aside from the simple bookkeeping that I did for my own photography business, and some more significant exposure while working for JET, I really wasn’t a bookkeeper. But why not? I was always up to trying new things.
So I found myself becoming more versed than I might like with Quickbooks, while still helping out on the sales floor as needed. During the busy seasons (before Pesach, Sukkos, and Chanukah) I would spend many more hours on the floor — becoming something of an expert in tying lulavim (about 200 per season), matzos, menorahs, and mezuzahs.
