Odd Jobs

(Not only the name of the post, but also a potential title for the next Odd Thomas book, if there is one.)

Most of my friends are employed now. Save your congratulations for something else--we're still all leeches on society in one way or another. In my conversations with them, I've noticed something.

I've never had a typical teenager job.

By this, I mean that I've never worked as a clerk in a store, in childcare, as part of a lawn-mowing or house cleaning business or in a restaurant.

But I have been employed in some form or fashion since I started high school.

My first job was as a personal assistant to a Mary Kay senior consultant. If you know me, you're probably laughing your face off at the irony of that. This was probably the only time that I dealt with such enormous amounts of make up for something other than a show.

And this was during the time when all of the compacts and lipstick tubes were pink. As were a majority of the boxes. This made for a rather painful experience. It's also quite possible that this job led to the creation of my inner feminist. (So, now you know what to blame for that.)

After that job ended (I never quit and I wasn't "fired"... I think she just ran out of stuff for me to do), I worked as a shipping clerk for a company that makes detectors for coal mines.

Wrap your mind around that one.

I've never been near a coal mine. I don't know what the process is for making a detector, and I think my head would explode if you tried to explain it to me.

But I did well enough with my job. I got the detectors in their boxes; I made sure everything was properly packaged and wrapped.

And I only sent the marker I was using to mark the boxes to Ohio on accident twice.

And now I'm a receptionist, which, I've decided, is a job I couldn't do for the long term. There's way too much suspicion involved; it wears me down. But, if I'm going to be able to afford my apartment in the fall, I'm going to have to put up with it for a while.

I suppose I should consider myself fortunate-- as of yet, I've not had to flip burgers to get a paycheck.

Not too bad, really.