Journal--My First Job

Here's another journal installment based on the writing assignments given to our last ward by our family history coordinator.  These journal posts are mostly for my sake (and the sake of my children who might be interested in their mom's life someday).  However, anyone else who would like to read them is welcome to do so, but don't feel obligated. :)

I didn't have my first official job until the summer before my senior year of high school. Before that, I once helped my Dad by answering phones at his office one Saturday when I was about 14. But nothing official.

I was very excited for my senior year. I had made it into Concert Choir and Madrigals. That meant that I would get to go on two choir tours my senior year--one to Disneyland and one to Oregon. The only problem with this? Money was tight and my Mom couldn't afford to pay for these tours. The combined cost for these tours was going to be around $750.

We had a choir fundraiser to help us earn money. It was to sell pies and pizza. I pulled out our ward roster and called every single name on the list whether I knew them or not. In that way, I was able to earn enough money to pay for my Concert Choir tour. But despite the fact that I tied with my friend, Justin Freeman, in selling the most pizzas and pies and raising the most money, it wasn't enough to cover both tours.

I knew I would need to get a job. But where to start?

It is really difficult to get a job when you have never had one before. My main goal was that I wanted to earn enough money for my tour, but I didn't want to resort to working Sundays in order to do so. This was a hard thing for me. As I mentioned before, it is difficult to get a job when you've never had one before...but it is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to get a job as a high school student with no job history that doesn't require you to work on Sunday.

I scoured all sorts of possibilities. I sent in applications to every store or establishment that I could think of that was closed on Sundays. Whether due to the fact that these places had a lot of hiring competition, or because I had no job experience, or a combination of the two, I never heard back from any of these places.

I was feeling very frustrated. I had a friend named Josh Adams (who later became my first boyfriend) who was working at a restaurant called Frontier Pies. He told me that they were hiring and that there was a possibility that they might not ask me to work on Sundays. He helped to get me an interview. I still resolved to avoid working on Sundays.

Oh, when I think back to my very first job interview, I want to smack my forehead with my hand and say to myself "How could you be so clueless?"  I was definitely not job hunter savvy at that point in time...and no one really gave me any pointers as to what I should or should not do or what to say or not to say. The only tip I got was to dress up.

It was probably one of the shortest interviews in the history of all mankind. It went like this:

Interviewer: Would you be willing to do anything here?
Me: Yes.
Interviewer: Would you be willing to wash dishes?
Me: No.
Interviewer: Will you be able to work Sundays?
Me: No.
Interviewer: Thank you for your time.

The End.

Ha ha!

It's a lovely glimpse into my teenage mind and logic. When the interviewer asked me if I would be willing to do anything, I had no idea he would ask me to wash dishes. I didn't want to wash dishes. I was caught off guard by his question and simply answered his question honestly. The funniest part about that experience, as I look back on it, is that I honestly left there thinking "I wonder when I'll hear back from them in regards to whether I'll get a job or not." I was that naive. I naturally assumed that I wouldn't have to work as a dishwasher and that I would automatically be hired as a waitress.  After that interview, I still hoped that maybe somehow, they would hire me and not ask me to work on Sundays.

Once reality hit a few days later and I knew that I wasn't getting a call back from them, I honestly felt hopeless. I didn't see how in the world I could get a job that didn't ask me to work Sundays. I decided to fast and pray about it.

A few days after I fasted, I got a call from my friend, David Mendenhall (who would also be in Concert Choir and Madrigals with me for our senior year). He said "I don't know if you're even interested in this, but I have an uncle who needs some part-time help during the summer. A bunch of sample boxes of picture frames were packed wrong and he needs some people to go in and pack them correctly so that the sample boxes can be sent out. It will only be for a few weeks. It will be Monday-Friday until we're done with the job and it will pay about $350."

I sat there speechless for a moment. That was the exact amount of money I still needed to earn for my choir tours. I finally said "Dave, do you realize that you have been an answer to my prayers?" I quickly told him that I would of course take the job.

When I hung up the phone, I just sat there in awe. A few moments before, I felt so hopeless and wondered what I was going to do. Would I have to compromise on my beliefs and goal to not work on Sundays?

I understand that there are plenty of jobs out there where it is necessary for people to work on Sunday: doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc. But I didn't think being a dish-washer or a waitress justified me working on Sundays.

I'm so grateful that the Lord heard and answered my prayers. He knew that it was important for me to keep the Sabbath day holy. In addition to that, it was also a first-hand lesson to me that people can be answers to prayers. When we are in tune with the spirit, the Lord can use us as instruments in His hands to answer the prayers of others...just as my friend, Dave, was an instrument in answering my prayer.

I have never had to work a Sunday in my life (unless you count being a mom--which is a 24/7 job!).  Each time I searched for a job, some opportunity or individual was placed in my life which helped me to earn the money that I needed without having to work on Sundays.

Special Thank You's: I am so grateful for my cousin Chrissy (who helped me get a job at a day care center the following summer--the summer before I went to college) and to my Mom (who helped me get a job at the insurance company where she worked the summer after that). The job that my Mom helped me get (working in the basement of the insurance company as the mail and file clerk for $8 per hour) enabled me to get my foot in the office work world--the Monday-Friday, 8-5 p.m. grind. While many of the filing, data entry, secretarial jobs that this mail/file clerk job lead to were not glamorous (and were often quite boring), they allowed me to earn the money I needed for college without ever having to work on Sunday. Thank you Dave, Chrissy, and Mom for being instruments in the Lord's hands.