My last day at the pizza place was Saturday, April 4, 2015. I left in tears, carrying my last free meal. Nachos, with chicken instead of taco beef. I started that day thinking I'd have another day. Around noon, the schedule for the next week arrived and my name wasn't on it. I started to tear up. I had another seven hours and then I was done. Twenty months of answering phones, making pizzas, serving customers, slicing vegetables, making dough, counting money, and cleaning any surface available came to an end.
I am unemployed. I suppose, technically, I'm self-employed. I've started offering my cupcake-making services, but it's taking some time to get that started. I charge less than minimum wage, and I'm okay with that. I love to bake and be creative with decorations.
I need a job.
Dan and I looked at apartments today. His roommate/landlord is getting married in August, and we're hoping to get married shortly thereafter. We found places we like, and he'll be able to afford them on his own for a while. But weddings cost money, food costs money, cars and college loans and clothes and Netflix and almost everything else cost money. I need an income in order for us to get married and live together and be comfortable.
I have enjoyed not having a job that I grew to dislike.
I enjoyed the work. I am thankful to have had the flexibility to request time off for church camp, vacations, visiting friends, and personal retreats. In twenty months, I learned how to lead. I learned how to meet the needs of customers while protecting the needs of the company. I became more disciplined, more detail-oriented, more deadline-driven. I became better at multitasking and hiding my frustration and solving problems creatively. I learned to count money quickly and delegate tasks and be firm with those I was managing. I became a better teacher.
I also yelled and cried and threatened to quit and made customers angry and let people down and forgot things. I was not a perfect employee. I didn't always do my best. I didn't always hide my frustration. I was lazy sometimes.
I learned lessons in those twenty months that I'm not sure I would have learned in an entry-level office job. I learned how to deal with the public and to be humble. I learned how to have compassion on fast-food employees (who work harder than most people think) and servers (who deserve bigger tips than they usually receive). I learned how not to be a jerk at restaurants, because restaurant employees don't make nearly enough money to deal with entitled snobs all the time. They deserve a break.
But now I'm ready to move on to somewhere new and learn new lessons. I jumped in obedience, not knowing when the net would appear.
The net hasn't appeared yet. I'm applying to anything that sounds like I could do something with the job. I've applied to a variety of positions at the local hospitals. I've applied all over the place. I'm trying to enjoy this process.
I've appreciated the time off. Dan and I went to North Carolina to visit a friend of his. We've had days together to have good and important conversations. I've been able to take on more responsibilities at home. The freedom has been nice.
It's time for it to end.
It's time to get a job.
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