Some people like to whine and dine.

Leila Clark

English 12

Sept. 7^th, 2011

Mr. Terris

For essentially all the summers of my life, I have been content to sit at home, peacefully spending each morning and evening on the computer, occasionally venturing out into the heat for a walk downtown in the afternoon. Usually, my family would then journey to Victoria to visit my aunt and uncle for a week, and then I would return back to my dozy monotony. However, this summer, my father decided that he didn’t like to see me bored and lazy, and decided that I was to look for a job. The idea of actually making my own money didn’t actually seem like such a bad thing, and if I found a place that I actually liked, it didn’t seem like such a terrible idea, but I figured, I’d look around to keep dad happy and then just drop it and enjoy my indolent summer. But as it turns out, life doesn’t work that way, and a fateful phone call from my sister’s boss ended up keeping me busy all summer.

My sister, who was home for the summer working to help pay for her next year of university, had gotten a job at the newly opening Dairy Queen. Her boss had asked if she knew of anyone else who wanted to work there, quite some time ago, and she said she couldn’t think of anyone. However, he called her and asked again if she knew of anyone, and my father and grandma were in the room, both who immediately volunteered me. So, down to the interview I went, and walked out shortly after, with the news that I was starting work the very next day. Now essentially, this is where my fun ended. Yes, of course it was nice to get a paycheck deposited in my account every two weeks, but I have to say, suddenly giving up so much of my time was awfully difficult. I also asked to be given very few shifts, and for the first few weeks, I had so many that I could barely stand it. Sometimes, the customers are also appalling, and it can’t help but make me think “why are so many people so stressed and angry that they have to take it out on the cashier at a fast food joint?” As well, it seems that the days they did schedule me to work, I actually was doing something important, like my grandma’s seventy-fifth birthday party, while I had nothing planned during my free days. But I’ve been sounding pretty negative, so I will say there are indeed a few perks to working at DQ. For one, it is an absolute joy to use the headsets in the Drive-Thru lane, as they make me feel like a pilot, or something of the like that uses headsets. Secondly, I’ve actually been eating a little healthier, as I can hardly stand the thought of eating there, or other fast food places, for that matter. Thirdly, the people working there are actually pleasant, and it’s nice to get to know all the people from my school that I didn’t know before but now work with. I’ve also always been a people person, so they put me on till a lot, so I suppose I’m also strengthening my people skills as well.

Admittedly, whenever I was home, I was either lolling about on the computer, or taking a quick jaunt downtown, just like usual, and I refuse to give my father the satisfaction of saying I’m not bored anymore. I don’t know how long I’ll stay at Dairy Queen (and hey, maybe I will stay), but it has definitely been a mixed bag, working there. I don’t know if I can totally realize what sort of life lesson this has given me, at my tender age, but I can say, I now know and understand why everyone complains about work.