Goodbye facial piercings, hello…continued unemployment

Ok, Interneters. I’ve been keeping something from you. A couple of weeks ago I had two job interviews with a local credit union for the part time position of a teller. This job had everything I want right now in life: a salary that pays the bills, real person benefits, customer service interactions, the draw of the potential dangers of bank robbery, and much more. Once I got the second interview, I thought I was in. I was so convinced of this that I went around telling every brother and their mother about the interviews (simply because I was excited to tell people something more than “I’m just searching for a job” when asked what I’m doing in life). I also took out all my piercings: the rook, the lip, the nose—everything except two classy pearls studded in my lobes. I got my hair cut, I neglected to paint my nails any brash colors, I pondered an entire new professional wardrobe…the whole corporate shebang. But, as you probably could have guessed by the title of this blog entry, I was kindly rejected from the position. I was in a park next to a river when I got the rejection news, and if it weren’t for the old lady walking/talking to her dog I probably would have burst into tears right then and there. I was crushed. But the more I thought about it the more I realized I wasn’t actually crushed. I stared into the flowing Willamette before me and I was overwhelmed with these hymn words:

“When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever my lot,

Thou hast taught me to say, 


It is well, it is well with my soul”

And then I realized I was not crushed. I was momentarily thwarted, but certainly not crushed. For a period of time, I had put my hope in that potential job rather than in something much more hopeful. I don’t even want to be a credit union teller. From this small experience, I’ve learned that I want to help people. I don’t even need to get paid for it (of course, I say that mid-month when I don’t have any bills to pay and my cupboards are fully stocked), I just want to make people feel good about themselves and to make days brighter. So that is what I shall seek: a way to brighten days and The Hope that I know is more long-lasting than any part-time position.

“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.” –Ecclesiastes 8:15

 As a small rejection coping method/professional rebellion, I painted my nails all the colors I could find.