There are many pearls of wisdom out there worth noting….
• Any act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted…
• You can get pregnant while nursing....
• Don’t speed past black and white cars pulled over behind underpasses on the freeway…
• And if you can’t poke fun at yourself, well then who can you poke fun at?
How I got here…
Now that all my kiddos are in school fulltime, I thought it time to pursue my passion of writing. For the last few years, I had a really nice fitting teacher’s daycare. It was a bit like comfy old sandels caring for these little kiddos – it fit me well and served me well too. But, the time came to put the sandels aside and see what other shoes were out there. I was a Birkenstock dreaming of a becoming a Jimmy Choo. Hey, it happens!
But dreams take cash and cash takes a job. Since I’m neither too proud nor too picky regarding employment, I believed I could secure a job – as in any old job – by early summer.
Insert chuckle, grin and head shake.
Silly Lisa. :)
It’s a RECESSION. One in ten Americans is out of a JOB and you have been out of the professional work force for 12 years.
At one time – back in the day – I had a slick chemist job with a fortune 500 chemical company. Had the white lab coat and safety shoes – I was Joe Chemist and loving it. I am very good at math and chemistry. :)
Then I had four kids and poof 12 years went by staying home.
I did work during those years – but the part time and childcare jobs I held during the last decade now only produce confused and slightly aghast looks on the faces on the men interviewing me for high end IT jobs. You can hear them thinking in their head, “How the heck did you get past HR????”
So the summer starts out…I chase a few high buck, high end jobs in both my passion (writing) and in IT (an area I can do well because of my math background).
I get close…really really close…four times. The last interview I was in my power suit, with my power hair and my power nylons and my power handshake. Bursting with excitement, I waited for the Sr IT Director to come down the hall so the HR rep standing with me could introduce us. Oh it was thrilling! Everyone worked faster and stood taller when this Director came off the elevator. And I had an interview with him!! I leaned over and whispered to the HR rep, “Any last words of advice”?
To which he whispered back, “He’s all business – be prepared to push him back as hard as he is about to push you’.
Oh.
I was sort of hoping he would tell me, “He loves puppies!!! Talk about puppies!”
Snap! He only wanted to talk about computer programming!! BORING!
Well I gave it my best try but I lacked a certain programming language I had to have so I did not get that job either.
As I get the news I did not get the job – I turn the calendar over to August.
Jeepers.
I need a job till I can land a career. There’s a diff.
So I set my mind to getting the first job I can find to make myself gainfully employed – and I’ll worry about whether or not my dreams are being fulfilled, um, later.
Turns out – the local grocery store is hiring!!!
There were several openings due to college students heading back to well, college. I apply for the job that ends the earliest in the day – so I can get home before my kids do from school. So I apply for Jr Donut Fryer. I get an interview – THAT DAY! Wow things are looking UP!
My interview consisted largely of making sure I really understood what I was applying for (frying donuts) and that I would be spending my days over a hot grease fryer (frying donuts) and I would start at 4:45AM (frying donuts) and I would be frying donuts. Not flying the space shuttle, not saving lives, just frying donuts. Over a vat of hot grease. Did I get that? Did I realize the DANGER inherent in standing over a hot fryer for 8 hours???
I leaned forward, slapped both hands on the table and quoted RHINO from our family's favorite movie BOLT"...
"I EAT DANGER FOR BREAKFAST!"
"Great then, you’re hired!" the manager said. And here I thought getting a job was HARD!
Then....
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