Okay. Wow. 3 almost 4 years since my last post. That's insane. How is time passing so much that I can't even keep up on my one and only blog? Sheesh. I just don't understand how I can just forget something like this. Maybe there is no motive? Maybe I just have no desire to just sit down and type something like this up?
The primary purpose of this blog is so that I can see and read posts from my past self. Kind of like a digital journal? If you happen to stumble across this blog then kudos for you. I do kind of like reading my own posts from the past because it kinda lets me talk with my old self. Really weird when I think about it. It's not like I can TALK to my old self but rather just listen to what I said. I do like walking down Nostalgia Rd. and remember things once forgotten. I really hate forgetting GOOD memories. Bad sometimes too. If it was traumatizing then I'd probably be better off forgetting. But if it was a mistake I could learn from or just even an embarrassing moment, I could just have a laugh about it in the future.
All in all, here is where I stand. 22. Single. Living in my parents basement. Working at a call center. When I lay it all out like that, it seems rather depressing. I kinda see why, but at the same time, I see the positive.
22: above legal drinking age, able to do fun stuff, stay at a hotel, be treated like an adult, stuff like that.
Single: no tie-downs, able to go do fun-single stuff, dating game, not having relationship problems, no heart break.
Living at home: Really the only upside to this is saving money on rent. Living here is basically costing me $0. Can I really argue with that? Oh, and there's the fact that I'm living in my family's dirty house. And I mean that, it is dirty. There is clutter, boxes everywhere and actual filth on the floor. I hate living here in that aspect. I can't invite any friends over for fear of them seeing my family's filthy house. I can barely stand it and I live here. The location is okay. It's close to my old job, fairly close to my current job. Not too far from downtown. But I digress, living at home isn't terrible. It's just gross.
Working at a call center: Many of you (if in fact there are ANY of you) may be irked at the sound of a call center job, which I can understand. But when you take in to account that I worked in fast food for the last 5 or so years, this is a huge improvement.
Wild story time.
For those of you who don't know, I used to work at a Burger King. It was a crappy job, but it got me through highschool. With a couple hundred every check for clothes on my back, food in my stomach, gas for the car I drive, and service for my cell phone, it was really a smart choice. It was a quick hire, close location, and accommodative to my school hours. I was really desperate for a job at the time. 17, no job experience, still in highschool. I took the first place that would get back to me about my application. I was hired on the spot, and really, I just wanted a job so I could buy the latest trend at my highschool: an iPod.
So, a once easy, quick hiring, par-time highschool job to satisfy my cash craving for the latest piece of tech that I lusted after slowly turned into a post highschool, full time, managerial career. I was the highest paid manager and I wanted money so I could save it to my bank account and just admire the all the figures in my bank account. I was addicted to saving. Which is very good by today's standards. I loved looking at my account and oogling over the amount of money I have accrued. But I was un-happy. I hated my job. I loved a lot of my workers and loved socializing. But I hated what I did and I hated the company. They saw my lack of motive, switched me to a better store, but I felt I was still just not in to it.
Now approaching 5 years at my job, coworkers teased me at the fact I never finished school and that I worked in fast-food for as long as I had, just made me feel depressed about it. The thought of quitting pended in my mind and once I had a disagreement with my bosses, something snapped. I had to get out and I had to be fast. The job search was on and I investigated any and every company in the area that offered the same or close to what I made. I earned the most money for ANY shift manager in our company and I was ready to throw it away all that away at a moment's notice to the highest bidder that would hire me.
Alas, my hunt narrowed as I found out that no one in retail, food service or customer service would even come close to what I wanted to make. I had to make a sacrifice: work in the worst job for the coveted salary that any fast-food worker would dream to make? -or- Step down from my mountain of burgers and grease and get a job in a healthier environment for pennies? Surely, quitting couldn't be that bad, right? I then received a job offer for Walmart: The scum of the retail stores. Even they looked like an oasis of cash, merchandise and opportunity compared to the old greasy Burger Shack I was accustomed to working to. It wasn't far and they offered differential pay for the desperately needed overnight hours, and above all: enforced breaks. YES, having paid breaks was a selling point for me and I started training there with out a second thought. Given I had to work at both old and new jobs until my two week notice was up, but I had a guaranteed job with guaranteed breaks.
So I started the transition... I quickly found that these two corporate entities were actually not far apart. They had these similarities: 1) would hire basically anyone, 2) had jobs that paid less per hour than the average pack of beer 3) would have employees who would commonly come to work under influence of said pack of beer. *sigh* The job I thought I found was really just the job I left, only with blue shirts and slightly more diverse people. It beat burgers, but once again, I needed a job.
And so then a friend suggested the call center job. It made close to what I made and required no face-to-face contact with ANY customers. It was an MLM but as long as I'm working hourly and not dependent on commission to sell a product sketchily to potentially skeptical customers, I was okay. Needless to say, I took it. I went over for an interview and I was greeted by a burst of fresh, good smelling air and the most attractive receptionists I had ever seen at a work place! It was CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL, and GOOD SMELLING experience with no sign of a tantrum-throwing child not getting what he wants.
So, compared to my last two jobs, dealing with the worst kind of people for horrible pay, I was now working for a company that had the guaranteed breaks, that had the coworkers I could get along with, that had the right price and had the option for opportunity. Mind you, it's not the perfect job, but I can say proudly, it is the best job I have ever had...so far.
