Wag the Blog

As I’m new to my new town, I had to find a new job after nearly 13 years with my last company. Finding a job has never been an issue for me and I don’t really know why. Maybe I give good first impression. I applied to several positions online at the various job websites. I got 3 interviews and 3 job offers. I chose the one that was 1) closest to my house 2) paid the most 3) offered the best benefits and future for advancement.

As I was going through the interview processes, it occured to me I hadn’t gone on an interview in 13 years. Which is bizarre considering my early work history. It’s not an exagerration to say I changed jobs in my teens and early 20s as often as I filled my car with gas. I, literally, had a different job every couple of weeks. I had become an expert interviewee. I had never been fired from any of these jobs either. I would always just quit. Come to think of it, I never did formally quit…I would just not go back. Such minor instances would set me off. A manager at one of the many restaurants I worked didn’t think the way my hair was pulled back was high enough off my neck. I told him I had a rubberband in my car and that I’d be right back. As I walked to my car I got more and more pissed that he would have the nerve to comment on my chosen do. By the time I got to my car, I just got in it, started it and took off, never to return. This, sadly, was a regular occurance. Well, not that people didn’t like my hair, but that I…eh, I digress.

Amongst the many crappy positions I’ve held, my main sources of income during those early years were waiting tables and bartending. They just fit my lifestyle at the time; flexible hours for school, cash in my pocket nightly, sleep in late or have beach time before the 5pm shift. I had to, at one point, wait for new restaurants to open because I’d already worked every place in town. Really…EVERY place. And Orlando isn’t a small town. Strangely enough, I never did hit the plethora of fast food chains. I suppose I was keeping those in my back pocket for emergencies. Here’s just a sampling of the various companies for whom I worked between the ages of 14 and 22: US Golf, JC Penney, Walt Disney World, Sea World, Fun N Wheels, Universal Studios, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Sizzler, Black Eyed Pea, Wet N Wild, Bill’s Kitchen, The Olde Christmas Shoppe, T-shirt Bizarre, 15-20 different temporary employment agencies, Charley’s Steakhouse, Pleasure Island, Austin’s, Telesat Cable, Peabody Hotel, TGIFriday’s, Oakridge Cafe, The Orlando Sentinel, Installation Network, Damon’s Ribs, Floridan Hotel, Friendly’s, Glamour Shots, Ruby Tuesday’s, Bennigan’s, Trump Casino Atlantic City, Casa Gallardo, Chi Chi’s, Front Row, Chili’s, Alley’s, Tupperware Convention Center, Dillards, Spencer’s, Zales Jeweler’s, Backstage Billiards.

One tax season I had 22 W2 forms come in the mail. I had a wide assortment of non slip shoes, white Izod button down shirts and black pants. All my name tags, attached to my Wet N Wild lifeguard whistle, hung from my car rearview mirror proudly. The term “flare” from Office Space always spurs horrific fond memories for me.
Friends would suggest places to go out, restaurants at which to eat, new clubs to try and they’d always ask me my opinion because they knew I’d already probably worked there and had the inside scoop. One night someone wanted to go to Bennigan’s prior to going out. Once I shared the story about how, during a serving shift, I saw one of the other servers drop a shrimp cocktail on the dirty kitchen floor and go to throw it out only to be berated by the manager yelling, “What are you doing?! Just rinse them off in the sink and get them out there!”, we decided on TGIF instead. The more places I worked, the more limited my dining out options became.

Needless to say, my family was a bit worried. But, I was NEVER without a job…I always worked, always paid my bills. I just got bored quickly, someone would get on my nerves, or something better/different would come up. It was a horrible way to live. I must say, looking back now, I don’t know how I did it. And I don’t know what it was exactly that broke the cycle for me. I must have gotten bored with being bored.