The Strangest Thing

It's been a pretty wild week for me. I got a job. It pays $8.50 an hour and I'm glad that after so long, I finally have my own income. In one week I made almost $300.

I've never made that much in a week. Well, except for tax refunds.

The weird thing is, I don't even want to spend it. It's just sitting there (not in plain sight of course). I feel like there's this little part of me that's urging me to save money. It could be for a number of things but I think it's best to save this first "paycheck" as...a start up capital, if you will. I say "paycheck" because it's not really a check. The powers that be have placed me in a probation period. They (or more accurately SHE) are waiting to see how I perform in this enviroment and will decide from there whether I should stay. I do have some reservations about the job but none that would force me to quit. It's quite far, on the edge of downtown Chicago (possibly a mile or two away from Trump Tower) but I'm used to traveling great distances for an occupation. The only part that really worries me is the food preparation process.

I basically got this job because of my work history. Having worked in 2 different hospital kitchens for 4 years, I had a fairly good idea of what the food service industry required in staff. But this, this is totally different. It's a place called Saigon Sisters, a small eatery located in the French Market of the downtown Metra station. I'm used to the kind of schedule where you would prepare and deliver food on a grand scale that worked at a stable pace. S.S. is completely the opposite: a very small venue that churns out multiple sandwiches in a very short amount of time. I think they plan on training me for this area but that's what scares me. I don't know how I'd handle the pressure. Cleaning and organizing is natural to me whether it's pots or the stock room or the coolers. I can handle that stuff. But when it's an 8 hour shift, I think they'll be expecting more.

When the new year began I had this sort of moment of clarity, that with the new decade would come many, MANY new exciting adventures and possibilities for everyone I knew. It just felt natural, like this is the time where everyone's lives would shift and I think eventually it's all going to lead to great possibilities for each of them. It's halfway through the year and literally everyone I know has gone through something. I don't think they fully realize what's going on yet but they are well on their way to becoming the people they were always meant to be.

Help Wanted

I hate being broke. I hate having to rely on others for financial support. When I first lost my job 2 1/2 years, I did try to find something new. I applied to any location that had a help wanted sign or ad. But over time the opportunities dwindled and me, I just started applying less and less.

There was no point.

I was sick of "sorry, someone else got the position." So for better or worse, I focused on school. Now that certain obligations (i.e. newspaper) are out of the way, I'm focusing on getting back into a workplace that actually pays. (except for that one time.)

Unemployment kept me adrift for the last 2 years (thankfully because I built up benefits at the job I had before/I fed off of each new extension that I qualified for) but now....now I'm sick of the way things are. I'm going to have my own money. I am going to get a job.

On a sidenote, it would've been fairly awesome if all colleges instituted paintball events.