Showing posts with label bad first days on the job. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad first days on the job. Show all posts

Friday, 31 May 2013

THE THINGS WE DO TO MAKE A LIVING.

Have you ever had a memorable first day or night at work? I certainly did. Thirty-five years ago today, I woke up unemployed and ended up staying awake for thirty-three hours.

Having heard about a security guard company in need of employees, I made my way to their office. I didn't expect to actually land a job since I suffered from poor vision. It was just something to do to show the Unemployment Insurance Commission that I was looking for work. Having been turned down by employer after employer, I felt as if I'd never find a job.

I found the office of Western Investigation Bureau in a cinder block building among the warehouses in an industrial area. After answering the usual questions, one guard gave me a uniform shirt and told me to report to a construction site at midnight.

I attended the Wednesday evening Bible study at the house church which I attended, then reported to work. A guard showed me the route I should walk and told me about what the company expected of me. In between patrols, we talked and listened to the radio. I always associate the song, "Life's Been Good," by Joe Walsh with that night since I first heard it then.

Though I felt tired, I survived the shift. But I couldn't go to bed as I had hoped. At the bus depot, I used the photo booth to take my security guard ID picture. Then I went to the police station to have my fingerprints taken. I went home to eat lunch, then visited the lady whose house I'd be looking after while she was on holiday. In the afternoon, I learned the woman's daughter's newspaper route and flower delivery route at the General Hospital. Then I received some last-minute instructions about caring for the lady's house and dog.

I arrived at my rented room at suppertime and went straight to bed. Even then, I wasn't left alone. The lady called after an hour to ask if I made it home safely. I panicked since I thought I had slept for twelve hours and missed my shift. After a few hours sleep, I woke, dressed, and rode the bus to the construction site for another eight-hour shift.

I wrote more about this surprising turn of events in my newly-published How I Was Razed book. Find out more about my journey from cultic superstition to the freedom in Christ at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Virtual Bookworm Publishers. My previous paperbacks are featured at the left hand side of this page.