I gather up my binder full of applications and sigh with relief. I am finally done filling out application after application. The worst part of the application process entails the same information, worded slightly differently, for every company. It's made me wish all companies will just accept one universal application (it would save major amounts of time). Because a major corporation hasn't given me an offer to buy that idea, I double check phone numbers and addresses and pack up my things, grabbing my keys. One thing I love about Pennsylvania is the scenery. Every turn here is absolutely stunning. I live nestled between hills on the outskirts of Philadelphia, as you can imagine, it's breathtaking. It shocks me as I drive through it, and at the pump. Living in the mountains isn't cheap. On average, everything I need is about thirty minutes away. My chances at getting a job at King of Prussia (one of the ten biggest malls in America) are high, so that's where I headed out first to fill out and deliver my applications. As I've said before, it's equivalent to walking Manhattan, and God it felt like it. I was approaching my last few applications to turn in when I reached a tea store. So far, this process just included handing over a piece of paper with many thanks after the manager evaluated it. However this time I was offered an interview on the spot. I took it of course.
I have never worked in sales before but selling pizza is kind of the same. You put on your best smile and focus on the customer to help them reach complete and utter satisfaction (easier said than done). The man, a nice smile middle eastern, past his forties, leads me up a staircase as I frantically spit out anything I can say to convince him that he needs me on his sales team. He doesn't look impressed. So, I do what any normal young women would do, I pulled out the big guns, and started flirting. Listen, I am desperate for a job at this point, graduation monetary gifts only last so long. I start off giving him smiles and little urges to show him my desperation but not losing confidence in myself. That's what this guy wants, a confident young woman. Hell, I'm an actress, I can do that. By the end of it all, I get a shoe-in for the job. I don't mind what I did, he was a very nice man. Plus, I got a job.
There are many downsides to summer birthdays. I've seen it all. I have never had balloons to hold at school, or a happy birthday sang to me in math class. My locker was never decorated by friends, and half of my party list was in Florida or Arizona when my party rolled around. Little did I know it would also be the reason multiple companies are delaying my hire. See, to hire a minor in America it calls for a lot of paper work. Business owners would rather spend that time pushing sales and just wait until I'm 18. For me, that's a month and a half without a paycheck, and I still have bills. It's a struggle, but it's one of those things I just have to tough out. My mother never should have conceived me in November, damn it.
More recently, I was given the opportunity to tour my new community college. It's nice, nicer than J. Sarge was anyway. They have a lot of accreditation and check out well in my book. They have really taking community college to the next level and are trying to actually give people a chance at affordable, quality education, kudos to them. It gives me hope that I won't actually be a failure after all. I never dreamed once in my life I would ever end up at community college. Everyone claims it's a great system, but I never saw it fitting me. I've come to accept that I'll be attending community college, with a grudging attitude. Hopefully I won't be there long, that's the plan now. Still, I've learned that the future is never certain and life changes everyday.
Yes, it changes everyday. Like today. I come down the stairs, excited because I'm having a good hair day, and shit, I look good. I run into my mom and she looks at me, her eyes are glossy and she has on that smile that just screams somethings wrong. Her grandfather died today. It's weird, I didn't know him at all yet that feeling of emptiness overwhelms me. How can I feel so connected to someone I haven't seen in probably over a decade? I take it in and hug my mother, she needs it. The funeral is on Monday and she asked me to go with her, without hesitation I say yes. I'm afraid that I'll regret not knowing this man. What if I missed out on a wonderful opportunity? An important lesson that no one else could teach me? I guess I'll never know, and that's one of the realities of life we have to live with everyday.
Uncertainty in life is healthy. It blossoms realizations never seen before. It allows things to develop and change. Once we make peace with change and learn to embrace it, then we can really live life. So, I'm embracing this change and these challenges in hopes of learning something. It's scary, but I have to do it.
I have never worked in sales before but selling pizza is kind of the same. You put on your best smile and focus on the customer to help them reach complete and utter satisfaction (easier said than done). The man, a nice smile middle eastern, past his forties, leads me up a staircase as I frantically spit out anything I can say to convince him that he needs me on his sales team. He doesn't look impressed. So, I do what any normal young women would do, I pulled out the big guns, and started flirting. Listen, I am desperate for a job at this point, graduation monetary gifts only last so long. I start off giving him smiles and little urges to show him my desperation but not losing confidence in myself. That's what this guy wants, a confident young woman. Hell, I'm an actress, I can do that. By the end of it all, I get a shoe-in for the job. I don't mind what I did, he was a very nice man. Plus, I got a job.
There are many downsides to summer birthdays. I've seen it all. I have never had balloons to hold at school, or a happy birthday sang to me in math class. My locker was never decorated by friends, and half of my party list was in Florida or Arizona when my party rolled around. Little did I know it would also be the reason multiple companies are delaying my hire. See, to hire a minor in America it calls for a lot of paper work. Business owners would rather spend that time pushing sales and just wait until I'm 18. For me, that's a month and a half without a paycheck, and I still have bills. It's a struggle, but it's one of those things I just have to tough out. My mother never should have conceived me in November, damn it.
More recently, I was given the opportunity to tour my new community college. It's nice, nicer than J. Sarge was anyway. They have a lot of accreditation and check out well in my book. They have really taking community college to the next level and are trying to actually give people a chance at affordable, quality education, kudos to them. It gives me hope that I won't actually be a failure after all. I never dreamed once in my life I would ever end up at community college. Everyone claims it's a great system, but I never saw it fitting me. I've come to accept that I'll be attending community college, with a grudging attitude. Hopefully I won't be there long, that's the plan now. Still, I've learned that the future is never certain and life changes everyday.
Yes, it changes everyday. Like today. I come down the stairs, excited because I'm having a good hair day, and shit, I look good. I run into my mom and she looks at me, her eyes are glossy and she has on that smile that just screams somethings wrong. Her grandfather died today. It's weird, I didn't know him at all yet that feeling of emptiness overwhelms me. How can I feel so connected to someone I haven't seen in probably over a decade? I take it in and hug my mother, she needs it. The funeral is on Monday and she asked me to go with her, without hesitation I say yes. I'm afraid that I'll regret not knowing this man. What if I missed out on a wonderful opportunity? An important lesson that no one else could teach me? I guess I'll never know, and that's one of the realities of life we have to live with everyday.
Uncertainty in life is healthy. It blossoms realizations never seen before. It allows things to develop and change. Once we make peace with change and learn to embrace it, then we can really live life. So, I'm embracing this change and these challenges in hopes of learning something. It's scary, but I have to do it.
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