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.