I never knew that my feet could scream in pain this much.
I recently got a job at a Starbucks here in Portland. And no, not Portland, Oregon. The original Portland.
I had decided a couple of months ago that I would be moving in with my sister and I would go to school in Portland. I was going to move in sometime in June so that I could work for the summer and settle in for school. This meant filling out applications.
I made a mental list of places in the city that were stores I thoroughly enjoyed and I would apply there first and if that didn't work out, I would look for any sort of job. I sent out six or seven applications within two days. Then one night, before I moved, I was at home and saw a Starbucks ad and thought "Well,
I love Starbucks, why not apply?" So that's what I did.
It took three days or so to hear back from the manager at one of the Starbucks locations I had applied to. He wanted to set up a day for me to come to Portland and do an interview. I was so excited. Someone saw my resume (or lack there of) and thought I would make a good candidate to become a barista.
So I went to Portland for my interview. This included dying my hair from the blonde I had mistakenly tried a few months before to something closer to my natural hair color. Then I had to buy nice clothes for the interview and get my freshly 'fixed' hair cut to something more presentable. That all happened within two hours of my interview. Surprisingly, I showed up two minutes early to my interview.
The interview went well. The manager was kind, friendly and made the interview not as scary. At the end of the interview I was expecting the typical "We will call you and let you soon," goodbye, but no. He told me right there that he liked me and wanted to hire me. I was exploding inside.
I got a job.
I was able to make myself seem appealing enough for this man to think I would be a good fit here. I wish I could understand how I did that.
After that came two weeks of waiting. Waiting for that call that would change my life. Once I got the call telling me I was ready to start working, I knew everything was going to change. My life was going from living in the woods and Netflix to the city and understanding what a 'Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte' really meant (Hint: nonfat milk and sugar-free simple syrup).
This was an incredible change. I grew up in quite a rural area. My school had 100 kids, ranging from grades 7-12. The local Walmart was 45 minutes from my house. It wasn't a bad place to live, but it wasn't where I wanted to spend my life.
The thought of living there any longer would cause me to have a panic attack. I don't mean any offense to the area, but it just wasn't where I wanted to be. My heart has always gravitated to the city.
Once I knew when I was going to start working, it was just a matter of moving before that day arrived. So, I packed up my dad's truck and he and I trekked for Portland. Three and a half hours and one lost trash bag later, I arrived at my new home. This was a surreal moment for me. I had never moved before in my entire life. I was on my own. It was time for me to work and pay my own bills.
It's all happened so fast, and I wasn't able to really process everything that happened. It's been over a month and it still doesn't feel real.
I can't believe I am on my own, I'm not used to independence. This is going to take some time before I fully understand what my life is now. For now, I will focus on making sure your Double Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte is made to perfection.
May your journey be terrifying and full of wonder.
