When to Stop

"At this time we would like to extend an offer for Member Sales Representative for 25 to 29 hours a week, at $13.70 an hour."

"O- Oh!"

I couldn't help but react to the wage offer, because it was more than I was expecting. Retail banking had been my "plan C" for the past couple months. As a condition, I had determined that I would only take a position if it were with a credit union, as I believe commercial banks are inherently evil, and if my next career move were that humble I would need to be compensated by the knowledge that I was not going to work every day to accumulate more wealth for some distant shareholder or executive.

My plans A & B had been muddled about and tossed on their heads and shuffled and restacked and at that point I really didn’t even know what they were. Somewhere mixed up in there was the prospect of going to work for the corporate bookselling giant that I worked for, which would require a move to New York City and a humble salary that probably wouldn’t compensate for life in Manhattan. Besides that, there was the idea that my experiences had prepared me for corporate retail merchandise purchasing, planning, or allocation, so I’d applied to several dozen national retailers in various places.

Then there was the government sector. I’ve always thought it would be pretty sweet to plug myself into the bureaucracy somewhere, and not just because secretaries earn over 30,000 and have sweet benefits, but because I guess there is some quiet little socialist hiding somewhere inside of my brain who argues with the little capitalist in some strange equilibrium that I would need a whole other blog to explain. So I’d been applying to government jobs for several months as well.

Then I had come up with this other backup plan where I would take accounting classes in the evening and get some kind of entry-level accounting job while earning an accounting certificate, associates, or maybe somewhere down the line, a CPA license.
And then, finally, “plan D” had intermingled with “plan C” to varying degrees, and that was to just throw in the towel and become a manager at my superstore. However, the whole reason I went back to school six years ago was so that I wouldn’t end up trapped in retail forever.

Which is why, after the phone call, I tortured myself for several hours. It would be a higher wage, but shorter hours per day and less hours overall, which meant I would still have to work at the bookstore. But I had a friend who was teaching college and still working at the bookstore. Sometimes these transitions take time. It would also be 1/3 the commute I had been undertaking. But, I was still waiting for the call from New York, and I’d waited two weeks for them to return my phone call last time. However, credit unions are non-profit, and that’s kind of awesome. So, I called them back that same day.

“At this time I can confidently accept your offer.”

“That’s great to hear, we really look forward to welcoming you aboard.”

Details ironed out, I temporarily stopped pulling my hair out and delayed my existential crisis for another week or so.

Come back next time for: “Did I really go to school for 24 years for this?”