I got a job over the weekend and I worked my first day today. I was trying to make it at least a year with no ‘official’ job, but I guess you can’t meet all of you dreams.
I saw an ad in the paper on Friday for a part-time job at the Hill Country Outfitters store – think Summit Hut or REI. It is a ma and pa shop about the size of a Trader Joe’s that they have had for about 12 years. On Saturday I went down to apply and after turning in my app I started to browse the store. Maybe a minute or two later, the ma comes out and asks for me to come in the back. Whoa, that was quick! I go back and we chat for about 15 minutes and the interview went well. She told me she wanted her husband to talk to me, but he was out of town so I would have to wait until Monday or later. Sure, alright.
Across the street was the sustainability event that was taking place over the weekend so I went over to see what all was there. Most of it was solar and solar water heaters. There was also wind, rain collectors, better building materials, food, booze, the whole works. While there, the ma from the store called me and said that her husband was back in town and wanted to know if I could come back to meet him. Sure, alright.
I go in and talk to him and a few minutes later I am filling out an I-9 and W-4 form. He told me to come in on Monday for my first day of work. Aside from the ma and pa, there are 4 other ladies that work in the store. The cool part is that they make the schedule so that even if you are part time, you work a full day. It looks like I will be working 3 days a week, or about 24 hours a week. The bad part is that I have to wear pants and tuck in my shirt. Totally bummed about that. Oh well, I can make the sacrifice.
Most of their merchandise is clothes (mostly female), but they also sell shoes, fly fishing equipment, jewelry, bags, books and kayaks (Hans – they have our names all over them!). A typical Monday is restocking the merchandise that was sold over the weekend so that is what I spent most of my first day doing. It was a good way for me to get a feel for the store and where items are located. I next work on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. Oh, by the way, Saturday is Oktoberfest and I am in a German town. Who-hoooooo!!!!!