Let’s just cut to the chase and jump to the good news. (I tried to skip past the verb-preposition based cliches, but they reached out and grabbed me.)
I have a job for the summer! And not a lame-ass-it-pays-the-bills kind of job, a real actually-makes-use-of-my-degree type of job! Kick ass!
I’d sent my resume to the place Kyle worked last summer, hoping that maybe we wouldn’t have to be apart for 12 weeks again this summer. I wasn’t incredibly worried; the theatre I worked for last summer was much larger and technologically advanced, plus we heard from the grapevine that a couple electricians from last year weren’t returning. But there was still definitely some…uneasy anticipation, we’ll say. If I didn’t get this job I’d have to go back to Oklahoma City for the summer and be away from Kyle. Or worse: stay in Atlanta and work 15 hours a week at my retail job and try not to cut myself.
So when Kyle’s boss from last year called him up and said, “Hey, can I talk to your wife?” I was crazy excited. We did a relatively short phone interview, only about 15 minutes long, and I felt confident. Everyone always says that those interviews are just so they can make sure you’re not a complete douche, and I’m confident in my abilities to present myself as a nice person. And tonight, I got The Phone Call; the one that says, “Hey, you’re in, let’s talk pay scale.” Those are the best phone calls in the world, second only to the, “Hi, I’m Antonio Banderas and I’d like to make sexy Spanish babies with you,” kind. I’ve never gotten one, but I can only imagine they feel this good. Equally fantastic was the assurance that I got this job on my own merits, and not simply because I’m married to their welder. Though frankly I would have taken the job anyway, (we’re too poor to have principles,) it was nice to be validated.
So I’ll be working for Music Theatre Wichita this summer. Like I said, it’s smaller than the theatre I worked for last summer, but the quality of their theatre is still outstanding. I’ll be working as some form of an electrician, probably Deck Electrician. I’d love to get Assistant Master Electrician, and I know I could do the job, but being young with not a huge amount of experience and new to the crew I know better than to hold my breath. As long as it involves lights and plugging things in, I’m happy. Of course, it will mean that I’ll have to live in Kansas for 12 weeks, (no offense Kansasians…no, actually, lots of offense, Kansas sucks,) but as long as I have a husband and some beer by my side, I can live anywhere.
But I think the thing I’m most excited about is the prospect of having a job again, even if it’s temporary. Being jobless these last 7 months, (because let’s face it, retail doesn’t count,) I’ve come to share that loss of identity that so many of us are feeling right now. You never realize how much of your life and who you are as a member of society is defined by the job you do until you don’t have one to go to everyday. Or the one you do have is lame and sucks. So for those 12 weeks, I will soak up my validity along with my beer. Both will taste delicious.
