The title's not to say that working in the ticket office wasn't a real job or anything, but now I'm finally feeling like I'm earning my keep, and being paid decently to do it. I'm not inherently wealthy now, just much more comfortable than my previous status of making-it-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth.
I have a retirement plan started. I bought a new wardrobe...though I apparently won't stop being frugal any time soon: I bought most of it on sale. I would have avoided buying new clothes altogether, but my black slacks were 7 years old and had done 18 months of hard Starbucks work, my only pencil skirt fit a bit too tightly to be comfortable for professional office work, and I only had a couple dresses that weren't too dressy for my new position.
I like my new job thus far. It's a bit crazy, and my learning curve has had to be very high, as the person training me will be leaving in just over a week. I'm going to have to learn how to stick up for myself and say no. I'm also going to have some fun saying yes when I used to not be able to. I enjoy dressing nicely, though thanks to my director's kindness, I'll be allowed to wear jeans any time I'm not working events or having meetings with the big important people. I plan to set aside some money so when the fall fashions arrive (soon!) I can get a new pair of boot cut jeans to wear with heels. My old pair died within weeks of my last pair of skinny jeans, and now I only own the one pair of skinny jeans.
The downsides to my job? Well...I have to shave my legs. I'm wearing knee-length dresses and skirts now. I also get to have this weird feeling of running around like a headless chicken sometimes because I get stuff thrown at me from all directions simultaneously. BUT, the flip side is I get to use the organization skills learned after two years in the ticket office to figure out how to juggle it all. Let me get through the beginning of the season in September before I let you all know how well I'm going to swim! Oh, and I do spend a lot of time in meetings, but I'm sure they'll get more relevant as I get to know my position and duties better..
The major upsides? Well, I somewhat get to set my own hours, which means no one bats an eye if I work 7:30-4 or 5. I get quiet time to get my work done before everyone else gets home, and I have a shorter commute because I avoid the worst of the commuter traffic in and out of the city. Depending on the day, I do have the option to work from home, though I'll figure that stuff out later once I'm less dependent on getting information from everyone around me. I also got an office (shared with another employee)! It's not perfect, considering there's someone else in it, but he's fairly quiet, and I'm very quiet at work (shocking, I know...but most of the time I have headphones in and am processing data and drafting letters). And now I have a door, and a rubber tree that I adopted from the most recent greenery change at the hall. I may need to name my new plant. He does a very good job of being my final screen between my door and my desk. Fewer people see me = fewer people interrupt me.
So in summary? I'm pretty happy. It's nice being able to pay my bills without doing a bunch of mental math first. It's nice wearing clothes that aren't older than my niece. It's nice being a somebody when I used to feel sort of like a nobody. I also need to get new business cards.
Bring it on, world!
~Allison
