$3.29

Usually I will get up at 8:15 am, get dressed, eat breakfast, and drive five minutes to work. Today, things were much the same, get up at 8:15 am, get dressed and eat. However, the drive was different. The way to the new job was only ten minutes more, but in a different world. There were no id cards swiped, no treks up and down hills to the car, and no one watching over my internet usage. It was an amazing day. I did good things as well. I worked to help the community, through various methods. It put a smile on my face. Not as big of a smile as I would have had if I had bought the gas I saw across the street for $3.29 instead of $3.39 everywhere else in town, but a big smile nonetheless.

I left for home at an usual time for me. It was still light outside and there were still many people driving, unlike the usual five minute drive home where I would be luck to run into three or four cars. The drive home gave me time to reflect upon my future in the community. A whole thirty minutes. It was pretty amazing how long it took to get three tenth of a mile down the road, almost 15 minutes. It took me only 15 to get 10 miles on the highway. Talk about a waste of gas. Too bad I didn't get that gas for $3.29.

My First Job as a sitcom

If you have ever watched five minutes of the show "The Office" you should understand the dynamics of my office. I have worked at the same place for almost five months now. Referring to the post "Training Room: Episode 1," we'll see I started this job on October 15th. So, pretty much exactly five months. In that post I created a reality show from this adventure I like to call my life. From the time of my last post to about today, the tone, pace, and general atmosphere in my work place has changed into more of sitcom.

The story line would go much like this: monotonous in the beginning, almost predictable, damn near canceled because there already is a brilliant show called "The Office" on NBC. But, then in walks two STAR employees, a recovering alcoholic who won't drink in public but gets plastered at home by himself, a metro sexual who knows the exact shipment time of clothing at ROSS, Marshall's TJ MAXX, and Burlington Coat Factory, a compulsive liar, two mediocre bosses, the guy who got the job because of the metro sexual, and college graduate who happens to be working with all these people because it was the only place that would hire her at the time of her job hunt. Which one am I? Oh, the last one. There is a word of the day, sometimes, many inside jokes, some secrets, drinking, and some occasional Office Olympics when the bosses away. The show replaced Beach Day with River Day. The compulsive liar even said he cussed everyone out because the rest of the cast didn't approve of his outside shenanigans.

These characters have evolved into lovable and likable people because there is a connection to each and everyone of them. The connect has only grown recently, because I realized that this is my now and I need to embrace it, whether it's a cold miserable day or I'm having a blockbuster day. Just when the cast is settling in for the second season (the second season started with the entrance of the guy who got the job because of the metro sexual and the split up of the cast because they were too loud during the day), the college graduate took a half a day off to interview for another job, one that was better than the office. So, she comes back and gives one of the two bosses her two weeks notice. The rest of the cast is devistated. Who will replace the college graduate? Will there be a spin-off? Will she be alright? What will happen in two weeks?

Back to real life.. We really do joke that our work environment is a sitcom, with inside jokes, names, and antics. The whole nine yards. And I really did get that other job. I'm ebullient (part of my vocabulary ... thanks wordsmith.com). I can't wait. It's for an organization that works with lower and middle income families to be their voice in the community. Their voice could range from listening, rallying, or even going to the government. I'm stoked.

When I read over my previous posts I found some recurring themes; specifically patience and faith. I was worried in 2007 that I would never get my answers. I don't even know if this is my answer, I prayed for something to be my answer. I knew that somehow that where I am currently when lead me to where I wanted to. It discouraged me when I saw so many people leaving for bigger and better things while I was still sitting in that cubicle waiting for the answers. It just came when it needed to. If I had moved on to that other job, I would never have become part of that sitcom. It would have stopped at some stupid reality TV show. And you know, if it were on CBS it probably would have been canceled after the first twenty minutes of the first episode a la Secret Talents of a Celebrity.

Well, whatever this does become, in a little less then two weeks I'll have to change the title of my blog to something else.