The Case of the Missing Scanners

Yesterday, when the clock hit 11:00 pm, I wanted to go down to the vending machines. Sometimes I'll get a little hungry and want to munch on something small before I sleep, but sometimes I'm just plain thirsty. It's quite annoying when you only get to eat in the dining hall twice a day and there aren't any drinks in the room.

However, when I went down last night, I was determined to get a red Powerade. They always seem to hit the right spot whenever I'm dying of thirst. I swiped my card, and then got the message, "Sold Out." Of course I thought. So then I went to the soda machine, because it was my second choice. I'd get a Sprite.

I swiped my card. It read, "Not ready." I'm not really sure what to make of that, honestly. Will it be ready momentarily? Will it take all night? Did I do something wrong? I tried for a Diet Coke instead. Same message.

After I swiped a couple more times, hoping for something new, the girls behind me told me they had been trying also, and the machine didn't work. I was exasperated, but I had a little bit left of the Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper I had bought about three weeks ago left, so I chugged that down when I got back upstairs.

Today, I was hoping that someone came to restock the food and drinks. After all, they usually come in the middle of the week. I wanted a soda this time. I approached the vending machine, ready to swipe. But alas, instead of a card scanner, all that remained were two large holes, the bright white light from inside the machine behind it, glowing. Well, ok, I didn't really want that anyway.

The urge for the Powerade engulfed me once again. I walked the few extra feet, wishing that they weren't sold out. I pressed the button to make sure. They weren't sold out. But then, I tried to swipe my card. This machine had no card scanner either! I had no idea what was going on (I still don't know, to be honest)! Why did they decide to do that? (They being whoever thought this was a good idea. I don't really know who "they" are) Are they going to fix it? Will we never be able to buy drinks again?

I eventually traipsed over to the campus center, where I was able to score a bigger bottle of it instead, because my mouth and throat were dryer than could be. I'm really curious as to why the staff decided to do that. Maybe they need new scanners. Maybe they are putting in new machines. Who knows? All I know is that, while Lauren laughed herself into a tizzy about what had happened to me two nights in a row, I wanted to know some answers, and hopefully they will come soon.

I've Found One

After a year and a half of fruitless searching for minimum wage jobs in Albany, NY, you are finally looking at an employee of Justice, sister store of Limited Too. I was just starting to lose hope when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

Who could it be? I thought. It was a random 518 number, which automatically made me think it was a future employer. However, just the day before, I had received a phone call from Peaches Cafe telling me that I was eliminated from the running to the fact I still live on campus.

I picked up my phone, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

"Is Sarah there?" The voice on the other end asked.

"This is her," I muttered, eagerly anticipating what she said next.

"This is Liz at Justice in Stuyvesant Plaza. We'd like to offer you a job. You still interested?"

At that moment, happiness surged through me, and relief flooded my head.

"Yeah, definitely!" I answered. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was waiting for a catch, for anything that would prevent me from getting the job, even though I remembered her telling me she was looking for people like me considering she already had people lined up for the holidays.

She then proceeded to tell me my hours for the upcoming week. After the conversation ended, I closed my phone. A thousand watt smile plastered on my face, I screamed to Carrie, who was sleeping in the bed, "I got a job!"

I'm lucky. I feel good, because I can finally afford another trip to California in the winter, and the pressing fear of running out of money has been somewhat lifted. So far, hours haven't been bad either, but then again, I've only worked two days so far.

I know plenty of people applying for jobs and never hearing word again. It's scary really, because not many retail stores are willing to hire students who live on campus. Work study is only available to select students and the bookstore jobs are gone quickly. There is always dining hall services (and the signs are around, believe me. I was tempted to call after I hadn't heard any word from any of the places that interviewed me) though, and I'm always surprised by how many students don't work for them. They will obviously work with flexible schedules and pay isn't that bad. There always seem to be a very high percentage of adult workers compared to the students.

I hope other people have the same kind of luck as I did. It took a long time, but I've finally found something.