Locked Out

I need a new damn job. Arg. I got all bundled up and rode my bike to work this morning only to find the doors locked and nobody there. It looked as if someone had been there earlier in the day because some of the lights were on inside but not a soul was around when I got there. I'll tell you what, the novelty of having an unimportant part-time job is gone. It's no wonder people get discouraged when they are looking for work and don't have the education or skills to get jobs better than this. I don't care how unimportant the work may seem, people depend on these jobs for their living and it's nothing short of disrespect when crap like this happens. I left a message on the answering machine at work after I decided I was going home since I had stood outside for almost a half hour (in 30 degree weather with sweaty riding clothes on) and do you think anyone has called me yet? Noooooo. That would make sense.

I cringe a little to think of finding a new job after my East Hills job interview experience. I had applied for a weekend position as a locker-room cleaning assistant. Definitely not the most glamourous job but it would have gotten me a free membership and some money. Almost immediately after I met my interviewer, I got the impression that this position was very much below her - both in professional and in social status. She couldn't even say the word "housekeeping" without looking like she had just bitten into something sour. So that aside, she and another person proceeded to interview me for an hour and a half. That's right - an hour and a half interview for a $7 an hour position washing and folding towels. The following week, I heard from several of my reference people (from the job application) that they had been called. I didn't hear anything from East Hills for another week. They didn't call me to tell me that I had gotten the job, though. They called me to tell me that they had decided to not hire anyone for the position and were just going to fill the vacancy internally. WTF? I wasn't too heartbroken since I had already decided that I wasn't going to take the job if it were offered to me - definitely not going to give up my weekends for that. But I'm definitely learning the difference in the way you're treated when you're trying to get a professional job and when you're just trying to get a job that will pay the bills. I think in the long run this will be a good experience for me since it's certainly easy to get sucked into the corporate way of thinking that you're above everyone else because you have a salary and a business card. Yech.