America: Work, Dammit! Work!

Why have I not put up a post in two weeks?

So I got a job working for MadScience, doing science presenations for students. They took too long finding gaps in their own schedule to get me trained, so I applied to P.F. Changs as a waiter to get some money coming in.

P.F. Changs also took forever as I had to go through THREE interviews (this is their standard) and then they said they didn't think I was qualified enough to be a waiter ("we don't usually hire the type of people who have worked at TGI Fridays" said one manager). So despite three years of server experience, three years of teaching, two years of Peace Corps, two bachelors degrees and a Masters, they said "maybe we'll start you as a back waiter and and in a month or two we may move you up to server."

I took their training manual home and memorized every item on the menu, including their ingredients and flavor profile. After four days of working as a back waiter (which essentially requires running trays of food, ice, rice and dishes for eight hour straight) they said they wanted to train me as a server.

But by now I've finally gotten my letter of eligibility from the Florida Department of Education that says I can teach here. This letter allows me access to the job database and I call all eight schools with an opening. Seven have already hired someone, and one is doing their interviews THAT DAY (and I'm already driving to a MadScience training when I'm making the call). The secretary says if I fax my resume over, they might get me in. I call my mom at work, have her pull my resume from my email account (it had been attached to an email that I had sent), print it and fax it.

Three days later, I'm finally starting MadScience presenations and I get a call from the school: none of the applicants had impressed and they wanted to interview me, but it can only be THE NEXT DAY. Of course, I'm working a morning shift at P.F. Changs. I stay up until 4 AM putting together a video resume, work my shift, change in the car, drive across town, do the interview and they say they'll let me know.

In my experience, that is never good.

They called the next day: I got the job!

So I'm the newest 8th grade langauge arts teacher at this middle school, but I still have to jump through the hoops to get it, which includes a background check, drug testing and an 8 hour orientation for the county.

In the meantime, I have now been made the regular Friday night presenter for MadScience at a hotel, and P.F. Changs isn't able to get me trained as a server because they've packed my schedule with backwaiting shifts. They had jsut scheduled me to do my first training shifts this week, so weren't happy when I told them I got the teaching job and need to only work weekends.

So for the record: Mon-Fri: teaching; Friday evening and occasional weekday late-afternoons: MadScience; Saturday and Sunday: P.F. Changs.

Three jobs. Technically, this is not the busiest I've ever been in my life (in the Spring of 2004 I was teaching, working on my Masters, in a dance company, writing for two newspapers and directing a training video for Gear UP), and I'm sick of being poor.

Work! Work!

Peace Corps feels like such a long time ago.