Below follows a brief summary of my recent jobs.
When I got to Columbia for my second year of college I was lucky to find a job at a local independent coffee shop that was just opening up. I started in September. It was really nice, I enjoyed making coffee drinks and everyone told me a had a knack for it. It was really nice to hear that because I feel like I’m not good at many things.
Unfortunately, the coffee shop closed in March. I was on spring break when I found out. The decision to close was made in, probably, a matter of hours. We had a meeting scheduled for Sunday but the decision was made to close on like… Friday. I think Saturday was the last day open. As sad as this was, I don’t think any of the employees were too surprised. The shop was started by a man who had never opened a business before, and I think he just bit off a little more than he could chew. The coffee shop was in one of the most expensive areas of the city, and the rent was astronomical. I really miss that place.
When I came back from spring break I had no job. I took March off to focus on school because as any music student knows, March is freaking crazy. I was going to have to ask off so much time anyway. I have been calling March “fine arts month” for years now, it has been true in high school and college. I wonder why all the fine arts competitions and concerts seem to be in March!
When April was approaching I made my rounds handing out applications. One place I applied had a help wanted add on Craigslist, it was called Tio’s and it is a Tex Mex restaurant that is right next to campus and stays open really late. Clearly caters to students. I had never waited tables before, and I unfortunately was not very quick to catch on. However, in Cinco de Mayo (quite a big day for Tio’s), I did great! I felt really proud of myself. The job itself was pretty stressful but it paid more than I had made at the coffee shop.
By May 8th, I was fired. May 7th was a Monday and it was one of the first days I worked a lot with one of the owners named Jamie. I made a lot of mistakes that day and the next, but honestly they were not mistakes that were too bad. Stuff like giving out too many straws or ringing up drinks as to go because they were in to go cups even though the people drinking them were dining in. There were also these punch cards that had to be dealt with by a manager and one of the managers keyed mine in wrong making the totals incorrect, and since I had already made mistakes the heat for that fell onto me.
It sucked to get fired. Anyone who has been fired knows what I’m talking about. It means someone disliked your work so much that the immediately told you to get out and never come back. It really hurts to think about Tio’s. Sigh. I miss the money but I do not really miss the job.
Miraculously, the very same day I got fired from Tio’s was the day that the director at St. Peter’s reached out to me and had me audition to be a choral scholar. Thank goodness that went well. It really eased the pain of losing my job, and it is extremely evident that being a choral scholar is much more suitable to my skills than being a waitress.
Now, in addition to singing at the church, I am working for Sability, Inc. This is a company my mom’s boyfriend started 20 years ago. It is a software consulting company. I don’t deal with any of the software or clients, I just write emails and build websites. It pays a good hourly wage, but the work comes and goes. Sometimes I do 30 hours a week, sometimes 5 or less. I have been working for Sability on and off every summer since 2008 or so, but now I think I will be able to continue year-round. I would be perfectly happy to work for Sability full time after college. We will see where that goes.
Don’t ever get fired, it sucks for your self esteem.
Spacial Fray 