building character

I've always wanted to work at TJ's - first I wanted to be the in-store artist and paint pretty pictures and signs all day but I never went for it because I didn't think I'd be good enough. With practice I think I could do some kick-ass work, but now I digress.

For the past two months I'd been working for one of my favorite former architecture instructors - designing, modeling & creating drawings for a competition for a Holocaust memorial. As soon as I finished that scheme I went off to Chicago for a week, then when I was back in L.A. I went on campus to fill out some D-clearance forms, saw my boss and then, in a turn of events, received the news I wouldn't be working for him, indefinitely. He'd done some paperwork for his taxes and realized he really couldn't afford an intern while he didn't have steady work coming in. So I was let go - but a few days before I had filled out a part-time crew application at Trader Joe's, secured an interview the next week, and two days after I was turned away from the architecture office I had a job at Trader Joe's. Funny and fortunate how things turn out. Today was my first day and it was a whirlwind of activity - I got a shirt and a temporary name tag, I helped with restocking food, bagging groceries, did a cart-run, and a bit of paperwork. This is something new, refreshing, and it feels good to burst out of the comfortable bubble of working for people I know or are on familiar terms with. Time to make new connections and learn new things.