The weary world of part time work
by: Sarah Maple | Total views: 4 | Word Count: 520 | View PDF | Print View
Looking for part time jobs as a student was a nightmare. I remember that broke college feeling, that realisation that there was no way you were going to be able survive on £30 EMA a week…and some kids didn’t even get that. Too young and under qualified to get a full time job and too old to rely on mum and dad for handouts, the responsibility of clothing oneself starts to fall heavily upon the shoulders of students everywhere. The options of part time employment open to students are hardly extensive. It’s a cruel, mind numbing world of waitressing, shop attending and dish washing and if it isn’t any of those three you can be pretty much certain that it will be something similarly boring.
The best part time job I had at college was at a large restaurant in town called the Meadery. The Meadery was an ‘eat with your fingers’ establishment that usually catered for large groups on business functions, families and the occasional stag and hen party. To pass the time when we weren’t running around with jugs of sickly wine we wrote short funny poems about our patronising boss and passed them around with the kitchen staff. The night’s funniest poem would win a spare rib.
When I had eventually had enough of sweeping up squashed breaded mushrooms from the floor and receiving 20p tips from 50+ stag parties who had spent their night trying to flirt by offering me a seat on their gravy stained knees - tempting but no thank you- I started to look around for other ways to earn a slow buck.
The local paper was full of recruitment sales jobs (not qualified), telecanvassing (the road to hell), IT work and the like but I just couldn’t bring myself to apply. By the time I left college I had worked in Faith Shoes, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, The Meadery and as a waitress at a golf club. I may not have learned anything much from these jobs but at least I have taken something away from these experiences, a respect for those working in customer service jobs and four snazzy uniforms that come in handy for fancy dress parties.
Now that I have left college and university I look back on these days with affection. I can’t say I miss my days in the world of part time work but now I have a different problem. No more can I bask like a warm lettuce leaf under the glow of the kitchen heater lamps, safe in the comfort that one day I would have a better job…a real job in an office doing something important.
Now I am looking for a real job to do something important I long for the innocent days of college, getting up late to learn something new every day and the freedom that only lack of responsibility can give you. Then I think of my wage packet and those thoughts quickly stop. There is no point looking back, only forewords…cheers to riches and retirement.
About the Author
Sarah Maple writing on sales jobs
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