Since I’m new with this blogging thing, I’m gonna start a series which I am calling “A little backstory.” This will be a good way for you guys to get to know me and prepare us for talking about what I’ve currently got going on with context. Here we go, hope you enjoy…
Life can really be a blur sometimes. Me and my fiancé, Emily, have been together for 6 years, lived together for 5, and been engaged for one. We first lived together in one side of a duplex that Emily’s mother owned. All was good and we thought we had the world figured out. I was working in a factory on a crazy 12 hour swing shift schedule. She was working as a assistant customer service manager at a local Foodlion grocery store. Her mother was letting us live rent free, so we could afford most whatever we needed and wanted.
I was working four 12 hour nights, three days off, three 12 hour days, one day off, three 12 hour nights, three days off, four 12 hour days and then one whole week off. That schedule was dizzying, and about the point at which I was fixing to loose it, I got a whole week off. I was working my ass off, but the schedule grew on me. I always looked forward to that week off. The whole time I worked there, I was saving money. I was putting back enough to cover my imaginary rent. I was planing to buy a ring, proposing to Emily, and going on a trip for a couple of days. The company I worked for kept telling me that after a year they would double my pay per hour and hire me full time, as I was working through a temporary service. I was pumped, that would’ve been a lot of money, more than I could fathom at 20 years old. A year came and went without that raise. Then at about the year and a half mark they gathered all of the temporary workers like my self for a meeting. They told us they had bought out a nearby factory and were going to bring in all of the workers from the place they bought. Translation: sorry guys but the gig is up.
Well shit what do I do? I walked off of the floor about an hour after the meeting and never looked back. I was not about to find another temporary job, so I started the job search. Emily was thankfully supportive, and she encouraged me to apply for unemployment benefits, while I looked for a job. The unemployment checks started rolling in at about half of what I had been previously making. So for obvious reasons I started spending the secret stash of money that I had saved up. and the job search drug on. I felt horrible for having to spend that money, as it felt disappointing not being able to use it as I had intended. The money got gone quick and eventually I decided that starting community college again was a good idea. I also managed to find a pretty easy job at a Radioshack in town. Emily and I ended up moving into her moms house as keeping up with bills had become too stressful with me doing school and both of us working. She eventually started school as well. We were both able to graduate from the community college with Associates degrees.
During the time we were acquiring these transfer degrees, the Radioshack closed down because the company went under. Next door to the Radioshack was an online gambling place which fit into a tiny loophole in the gambling laws of North Carolina. I had befriended one of the people running it and they felt sorry for me when I told them the store was closing so they hired me on. That job was pie. All I had to do was sit in a little box and put money on peoples accounts for them. I read a lot, and I did a lot of homework. this only lasted about a month though. as the county passed an ordinance banning the places. This was a let down, but it was a relief to as i had to be there until 2am.
…to be continued.
I don’t know if you see a running theme yet, but I’ve been through a lot of jobs. I will pick up here when I post next. Of course this is extremely summarized, but hopefully I can catch up to the present next time. If you have questions feel free to ask.
(Side note) If i get enough questions, perhaps I’ll make a post answering some of them, once I finish this “A little backstory” series.
Coffee and Conversations with Sam 