along with the current - no real direction, just going where the waves take me...Things have been - interesting, I suppose. I'm sure it would all seem quite mundane to many people out there, but when life's happening to you - it can seem more interesting, ya know? Now, dependent on how close you happen to be to my inner circle, that will determine your level of interest, I'm sure. Still... I'm here to spell out all the gory details, no matter how mundane or banal.
It's been pretty much all about work these past few weeks. Work for me. Work for Sam. Housework, schoolwork, footwork, paperwork... yah. Work. Great. Is this what life has boiled down to? In my household, at the moment, yes.
I never would have thought that my life's work thrust me into the realm of sales - but that's exactly what it has done. In the early years, I simply wanted a job. Needed a job. Any job. Something that would provide the sustenance and shelter that my daughter and I required. I did not expect to find a career, let alone one that I loved...
When Sam was five I had to get a job. The state had been helping out with housing and food, but they have a limit - when your kid is 5, she's old enough to be sent to day care and it's time for you to get out there and help earn her keep. So, I went through the classes - how to find a job, how to write a resume', how to fill out an application, how not to sound like a dork in the interview - you know the drill. I learned quite a bit, actually, and through the course of the class I found my first "real" job.I became a telemarketer for the San Diego Symphony in 1994. I spent my time in a big room up above the concert hall, with 30 other individuals, a telephone strapped to my head and a list of names in front of me. I spent a good two hours each day commuting from East County to downtown- first by public conveyance and then later through carpool, but I showed up each day and did my best to find new subscribers to first the Summer Pops and then the new fall line up. I have to admit, I did better than I'd ever expected. I became one of the top
sales-persons of the department, and I was one of the trusted few who were often loaned out to other departments. It was a constant drudge of phone dialing. Each morning we would receive our lists. The company purchased lists based on household income, and these were the people my department were instructed to call. To survive, you really had to develop a thick skin - become like a seal and just let the hostile and negative comments slide right off your back - otherwise you would end up blubbering in the bathroom and/or screaming down the middle of Seventh Street as you ran terrified from the building. (People aren't always the nicest to telemarketers, dontcha know)? It was a long, agonizing year. Andree and I found ourselves counting off the minutes each day. Our conversations often sounded... well... like this... "Hello Mrs. Smith, This is Linda with the San Diego Symphony.... Oh. Oh. Okay. Well, thank you. (click) Only 134 minutes to go" And so on down the line - the day would drag like you wouldn't believe!!In spite of my complaining, the telemarketing department did a pretty good job for the Symphony. In my almost-year working for the company, I brought in over $120,000 in revenue. True, I was one of the top sales-persons, but still... the department was doing good. I suppose that's why they decided to change the way they were doing things. Can't just leave a good thing alone, I guess. In any case, the day they decided to change our pay structure - and change the rules so that I would now have to work twice as hard to make half the money - I decided it was time to go searching for another job.
I called up my old buddies at the EDD, said "I need help", and found a very nice gentleman who helped me to get my resume' put together. He even said he had "the perfect position" for me. He called and set up an interview time for me with the prospective employer, and I was off...I first interviewed with Sandy in April or May of 1995. We seemed to hit it off right away, and I found my nervousness of the situation melting rapidly the more I spoke with her. The job was perfect for me... It was advertising sales - telephone sales (nothing new for me there) - but the icing on the cake was that it was for a newsmagazine! I could be an advertising sales person, while I learned the business and then eventually turned my talents to writing! Not to mention the fact that it was a simple 5 minutes from my apartment!!! I could walk if my car ever conked out. It was on pins and needles and with ants in my pants that I anxiously awaited the results of my interview. I believe I must have called Sandy back every other day to ask her if she had made a decision yet. I was nervous to be "bothering" her so much, but turns out, that can be a good thing! Shows the prospective employer that you are eager to work for them. Finally, after what seemed an insufferably long time, I received the call...
I had interviewed for a part-time post. I figured the lack of commute alone would make up for the change from 30 to 20 hours a week. I was resigned to perhaps making a little bit less money if, in the end, I didn't have to spend so much of it just getting to work each day. Imagine my complete shock then, when Sandy called me and said "How does full time plus benefits and paid holidays sound to you?" How does that sound?? How does that sound!?! Like manna from heaven! I immediately said yes, and then began the agonizing wait for my two-week notice to expire.I said good-bye to the Symphony a mere ten days from my one-year anniversary (the longest I had ever kept a job to that date). They actually threw a party for me - cake, cards and well-wishes from everyone. And yes, there were a few tears.
When I showed up on the first day at the new job, I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was going to be working in sales, but how I would go about it, and to what end, I was clueless - and more than a little nervous. On June 5, 1995, I began what would turn out to be one of the greatest adventures of my life!
What happened next??? Well, I'm afraid that's a post for another day. Tune in to find out! Trust me! It's just as thrilling as what you've read so far - if not more so!!! Until then...
