Time Will Tell

If there's anything I've learned from my new job in my last month, it's that patience is one of the greater virtues to master in life. I'm fairly certain that it's taken exactly eight hours for the last thirty minutes to pass and I finished my work by nine O'clock this morning. You can only imagine how impatient I am on a larger scale--you know, the one called life. 

As Mr. Marley so wisely chants, only time will tell. However, as boring as this job seems at times, I wouldn't run off calling it "hell" either. Who knows where I'll be in the next year or so. I could still be "gaining experience" or I could be working my dream job in the music industry. The only thing that I'm truly in control of are my choices in life. I've come to realize that every decision, no matter how big or small, impacts every detail of your being immensely. For example, every job that I've had in my short work history has given me something that I didn't have before working there. To further express my point, I've decided to break down the experiences gained from my jobs so that I can look back on it when I'm feeling unappreciative about my current situation. I believe it's important to step back and realize exactly how blessed you are so, in hindsight, I realize my previous post was childish and unappreciative.

Pizza Hut

When I was fifteen years old, a family friend from church agreed to hire me "under the table" as a waitress the summer before my sixteenth birthday. My mom has saved every dime to buy me a beautiful, though used, emerald green Grand Prix and decorated it with a peace sign on the back window and my name on the driver side window. Growing up in small town Kentucky, the popular thing to do for fun was "cruise" town and, lucky me, I was set! My primary reason to get a job so young was to be able to pay for my car insurance, but I also wanted to have a little bit of spending money and "independence".

Pizza Hut was a simple job--bringing out the pizzas and refilling drinks--but it was an extreme stepping stone into adulthood. It taught me to be responsible, to develop a strong work ethic and how to deal with people. I learned a lot about myself during the two years that I worked there and, all in all, I really enjoyed the entire experience. Of course, my position wasn't entirely without teenage drama, gossip and boy trouble, but I learned some very important lessons of what and what not to do and say. When I decided it was time to quit before leaving for college, I actually put in a two weeks notice, which my parents thought was hilarious for a part-time waitress job. Looking back now, I think my position there helped me build character and grow into the responsible adult I am today. 

Shoe Carnival

For some strange reason, when I started my freshman year at Western Kentucky University, I was dead set to work in the mall. I had this image in my head of a stress-free work day, filled with friendly customers and better pay than the tips I had gotten accustomed to. This was an excellent experience for me because it was the exact opposite of my expectations. Growing up as an only child, I was a spoiled rotten brat with no social skills. As an adult, I can own up to that but, at eighteen years old, I still had many lessons to learn about dealing with people. From crazy customers to irate toddlers who didn't want to try on shoes, it was a living nightmare every day. Surprisingly, neither of those describe the worst part of the job or what taught me the most important lesson I'd learn at that time in my life.

Her name was Tammy and she was a new hire. Blonde, bossy and convinced she knew everything, I hated her from day one. I'd been there about three months and had finally gotten the swing of things and made friends with my co-workers when she arrived. My co-workers and I were quick to gossip and decided that none of us liked her or her bad attitude. Much to our surprise, our manager decided that she had excellent qualities to take on a management job and made her our new assistant manager. Being young and naive, I had this crazy concept of seniority and didn't think it was fair that she should be able to take over after only working there a week. The other girls adapted quickly to their new fearless leaders, but I learned a hard lesson about this imaginary concept and soon found myself face to face with my boss who, kindly, told me that he didn't want to fire me, but that I should find another job. I walked out, defeated and defiant, and drove around the city pondering on where I went wrong. Although it might be obvious to readers, it took a few more years of lessons and maturity before I was able to look back and see that experience for what it was--a great lesson of character. I now understand that people aren't granted promotions or positions based on seniority, but on experience and skill.

Montana Grille

Oh Lord, where do I even start? First of all, let me just say that this was my first job after my six-month journey through Mexico with my Argentinian reggae band I met up with in Cancun. I had just celebrated my 20th birthday in Mexico City and traveled down the coast line,  hitting up Acapulco, Puerto Escondido and, finally, heading inland to spend some time in the ruins of Palenque. 

Coming back to home to start a job as a server in the most stuck-up restaurant in Bowling Green, Kentucky was probably one of the biggest mistakes in my young life--or so I thought. The bad thing about traveling abroad is that, while you're running around like a modern-age hippie, bills and credit checks are the last thing on your mind. Reality hit hard as soon as my feet touched the ground in Nashville and I realized that I was probably on the black list of every bill collector, banker and, considering the large amount of time I'd spent in Mexico, the CIA. 

I wanted a position that allowed me the freedom of sleeping in or, eventually, picking up the pieces of my degree, and a serving job sounded perfect! It's funny how jobs always sound fun until you're doing them. I'll never forget my first week there, where I had to complete a test over the menu items and the short hand codes for prime rib, chicken plates and etc. Although, initially, I thought the pristine white, long-sleeved shirts and black pants was a classy work uniform, I soon learned that white was the easiest color to bleach the nightly massacre of stains. Running around with the free-love, no-hate hippies had dulled my social skills and, more importantly, my wit and cattiness needed to work with the short-tempered veteran servers who were not impressed with my adventure stories.

I hated every moment I spent at that job, but the money was incredible and I couldn't beat the hours. In hindsight, I don't regret the time I spent there because it taught me many lessons about teamwork, confidence and learning to keep my mouth shut. Another dollar earned, another lesson learned.

Home Depot

Ah, the Home Depot--such fine memories for such a low paycheck! The three years I spent working part-time as a cashier at the Home Depot were probably the best years of my professional life, so far. The job was mindless, the tasks were easy and the daydreams of busting out the door at full-speed to the car were frequent but, despite this, I absolutely adored my time there. This adoration doesn't stem from the meaningless tasks associated with cashiers, but with the incredible people that made those tasks bearable. The first time I went out, legally, to a bar to celebrate my 21st birthday, I was accompanied by the many fellow-club hoppers I had gathered up from work. As epic as that night probably was (who knows, I don't remember it), it was only the beginning of a fun-filled, booze-filled experience that I'll always cherish. 

So, what life lesson does Home Depot offer? GO TO WORK ON TIME! Sadly, after three years of playing at working, I was "let go" because I couldn't seem to make those 6:45 a.m. shifts. As hard as I tried, I could never convince myself that I was a morning person and, sadly, it's usually a requirement of most jobs. So, from Home Depot, I learned to respect mornings and to be at work on time.

Martin Management Group

I waited for a few months before starting on this section for Martin because I knew that I couldn't truly give an accurate depiction of lessons learned with only a month of experience under my belt. I can say now that, as much as I hate the monotony, I'm happy with my position for now. I was so frustrated with the lack of writing opportunities at first, but I've learned many lessons that will help me in the future anyway. I see that maybe I'm at where I need to be as a writer for the moment--what I need are design skills and marketing lessons. So far, that's what I've got.

Photoshop and InDesign are my new best friends as I work daily on creating "rotators" for websites. Luckily for me, I have a very patient Marketing Coordinator willing to take the time to teach me. I'm becoming a social media tech-savvy ninja as I come up with social media plans for each of our fifteen dealerships. I represent Subaru, Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet, Chrysler (and all of its brands) and Mitsubishi. Somedays, I miss the drab boring days of not having projects to finish. My phone is constantly ringing--whether it's dealership employees wanting me to create more content for their website or vendors wanting to set up a sales meeting.

All in all, my quiet office has evolved from a prison with no sunlight, to a shelter from the jobless market, where millions of graduates fight to the death for entry-level careers. I've already dug me heels in and settled in for the long haul (unless something better catches my eye, of course--you've got to keep a sharp eye!)