A Little Random

So I realized today that none of my posts to date have had much in common.

Well - they've been me ranting about various things in life and society, so I suppose that is the commonality of them all.

This past week I've been thinking a lot about people who work more than one job. People who spend, quite literally, their entire days working. Bouncing from one job to the next to the next, only getting home for a few hours to sleep before heading out and doing it all over again.

Then there are those who are not only working more than one job, but who are going to school on top of it - so now there's studying and assignments and commuting time.

How do they do it?

I mean, I've done the 6 classes thing. I didn't have a job though (unless you count SMing our college's production of "Hamlet").

I've also done the full time work thing - only in the summer.

However, when I tried mixing the two I bombed it.

Alright when I had Intro to Web Business and was switching between jobs and states (yeah, I moved for the summer) I managed it quite nicely. I even scored a B+ out of the class! So I thought I could do it again. I signed up for an online Intro to WebDesign.

It killed my school average.

Twice!

Not only did I bombed it once, I went back to try again, even taking Intro to Programming. Not only did I realize Web Design and Development were no longer as fun and easy as I'd thought - I got a crash course in how much math goes into programming!

(I spent most of the assignment inputting the data verbatum to the book, and it still came out wrong! How does that even happen! I was following it word-for-word! Why!!!)

Okay, so aside from all that - how do people work multiple jobs at a whack and not just fall over at the end of the day?

Today is my second day of double shifts.

From 10-2(or 3, depends on the day), I work at a music store. It pays $8.75, which isn't bad. It's quite amazing, really. I'm a part-timer, which means I'm working between 8-18 hours a week though, so it became boring quite quickly.

So I picked up another job. One that I swore up and down I would never be caught dead at because the pay sucks and you're relying on others to help cover costs. I thought I was going to become a bartender - which I was okay with. I served drinks last summer. Apparently I wasn't listening correctly. I guess I muted out the title of the actual job -

Server.

Yup. Glorified waitress.

When that finally sunk in I felt the bottom of my stomach drop from under me.

The extra job I'd gotten to help offset what I was barely making at one store was now basically me working for free.

What the crap had I gotten into?

There is no shame in being a server. It's a position designed to help people get 'experience' in the work field. It's not meant to be a career job.

I was starting to be okay with it. Sure, I complain when I'm not there, but when I am there: I don't stop. It's a job where I'm on my feet, but I'm constantly moving around. I'm not just sitting in the back room reading (to which I will never complain about - cause Books. 'Nuff said).

Then last night, I felt like I was finally grasping the whole, take order, place order wait for food, engage the guests without spending too much time at the table, take food out, check in on them and all that jazz. And that's when I got my first big hit.

No tip.

I sorta stared at it. I was honestly confused.

I thought I'd done a great job at the table, I mean we didn't have orange slices that night for a particular drink, but everything came out as they'd asked.

So - what did I do wrong?

I had another realization when working last Friday.

I over-analyze everything I do.

"Did I say enough?"

"Did I make too much eye-contact?"

"Did I accidentally respond to something I shouldn't?"

"Did I get their drinks right?"

"Was that a joke?"

I know that - with more time - this job will become easier.

I also know that - being an introvert - this is going to be one of the hardest things I've done. I feel like I'm intruding on their dinner/lunch.

I suppose it's all in how you present yourself. The best you can do is the already the Best.

If I take it one day at a time, then I can breathe.

So - to all those who work double-triple jobs, add school on the side, or are balancing both:

YOU ARE DOING YOUR UTMOST BEST. DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE.

Otherwise, let them do what you do for a day. I guarantee they won't be able to handle it.