You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do - Chapter 5
After I left Broadway I had a series of jobs throughout the rest of High School. All came with lessons:
Chiropractic Office – I was a chiropractors assistant. I came in and used this huge industrial massager to loosen you up before the doctor adjusted you. I would put the electrodes on you, etc. This was an interesting office because, if you have ever worked in an office before, ESPECIALLY a doctors office – there is always someone sleeping with the Doctor and there are always women who are trying to claim their own territory.
Well in this case – he was sleeping with two of the women and they both knew it! (gross). I was only 16, but at this young, naïve age, watching these women at each other’s throats – I knew what I did NOT want to be around. But I also learned that a man stupid enough to have an affair with two women IN his office, is a beaten down man.
So… I took advantage. Somehow I did not have PE as a Freshman. By this time I was going to be a sophomore, and I was scheduled to start PE the next week. If you know me – I HATE physical activity. HATE… So, when one of the girls went on maternity leave and he needed more help in the office, I made him a deal.
He wrote me a note out of PE explaining that I could not play PE because of a hip injury. And I would come in early afternoon into the office. DEAL.
But that only lets me leave at 2:00, and he needed me at 1:00. So…. I went to one of my teachers and made another deal. I cannot explain this deal, as to protect the anonymity of my deals, but included getting my highly prized athletic boyfriend to do his homework and get better grades, in exchange for letting me out at lunch time.
YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO.
The Jewelry Store – After about a year and a half of working around all of these hateful women, corrupt doctor, and really a boring job, I decided to go back and work at the mall at a jewelry store. They used to have one in the mall, and one in a neighboring town. One of my jobs was to take packages of “jewelry” back and forth between the stores. I am going to keep my story here short, because somewhere in the middle of this I realized that I was transporting more than Jewelry. So I had to lie and tell them that I had to go back to school full time, blah…blah…blah. I learned real quick to pay attention to what people are asking me to do, and not to just blindly obey.
YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO
Waitress – This was actually one of my favorite jobs. I got to talk to people all day long. I had my regulars who I loved. It was awesome. Only problem was – I had a boss from hell. She was really mean and would make us charge for really weird things like… 25 cents for whipcream on a Hot Cocoa. Or 50 cents if they asked for more butter. Stuff like that. I used to feel really bad, and really embarrassed so I would not charge people for this. So, after a few times of getting caught – she fired me. But guess what – they were her rules, her money, her business – and I was breaking them. Who cares if I didn’t agree? I should have quit then. But I didn’t - I broke them, and so she fired me.
SHE HAD TO DO WHAT SHE HAD TO DO.