PJ's

This story is best explained with a bit of background...

I had given up completely on ever finding a "real" job, so I had settled my mind on just working at some min wage job. I enjoyed my time with Mom and Tammy and used it as an excuse to delay the efforts of finding that job.

Monday I did a lot of walking. I walked all up and down a street close to the house where I'll be moving into in a couple weeks. I figured it'd be best to find something close. I only found 4 places decent enough to work at, so I stuck my head in but got rejected from all. I quit around the time the food places were starting to get busy. No use going in asking for a job when they're surrounded by customers. So I called it a day after that.

Tuesday I used my knowledge of Monday's events to plan my day more effectively. I went out with particular stores in mind. I went into over 10 different stores including 3 Waterstone's (bookstore). Got rejected by all. A couple were still friendly and accepted my CV. A couple others were sorta rude. By around 3:30 I was tired and annoyed. I ate dinner and hung out with a friend for a couple hours. Then I just relaxed in front of the computer for the evening.

I got up today knowing that it would be more of the same as yesterday. I didn't know a more productive way of doing it. I figured if there was at least a slight percentage of success, then the odds would eventually work in my favor. I started out by calling up a Waterstone's that I had applied to last week. I got to talk to a manager who said they were all staffed, but she was really friendly about it. So that was a semi-good start to the day's adventure. I had on my list a couple of Papa John's nearby. I went to a closer one first. The first the guy asked was if I had experience. Yes! Yes, I do have experience! I may not have experience in all the other jobs that are out there in the world, but I do have experience working at Papa John's! He got my name and number and said he'd pass it to his manager. Also dropped by a Costa (coffee shop) on the same road. He said there aren't openings right now, but people come and go, so he asked for my CV to have for future reference. Then I took a journey over to another Papa John's and got a similar response to the first one but not quite as positive. On my way back from that one, I got a call from the first Papa John's asking if I could come in for an interview at 3:00. A what? An interview? Someone actually called me for an interview?

I went in at 3:00 and chatted with the manager guy who can't be more than 5 yrs older than me. His basic attitude was the job's mine if I want it. All the workers there are foreigners and can struggle with the language at times. He wants me to be the face and voice that the people interact with and feel comfortable with. So I'll be working the phones and helping people that come in. It's the same thing I did when I was 16-17! It's come full circle. I'll only be earning just enough to get by, but that's more than I'm earning now! And he was totally fine with letting me off on Sundays, and even on Thursday nights for Institute.

The place is REALLY small compared to what I'm used to, and some things are a little sketchy. Like I think I'm just getting paid under the table. He had a long and complicated explanation for it (he talked a lot and very loudly), but I think that was the main point. There's only 5 drivers and I'm helping the Indian girl who was the only phone person before (there's only 2 phones). I don't think he even has any other assistant managers or shift leaders. Oh, can I point out one irony here? After Brom has gone to India to teach people there to do his job, I'm here in London being taught by an Indian girl how to do my job. Hmm.

So that's pretty much the scoop. I go in Fri evening for a couple hours of watching/training. Then I'll go in Mon to start work. Should be fun. And maybe I'll get some good food out of it. :)