My youngest son, the only kid staying with me this fall, applied for a job today. He said the interview made him incredibly nervous but he thinks it went pretty well. It is a retail job, doesn't start until November, and will involve being really busy during the holiday period, when he finally once again will have friends in the city.
I think all of us can understand how a young person feels going in for his first job interview. Hell, until I got my current job, during the many years I was jobless, I lost most of the confidence acquired over a lifetime when applying for jobs. After a long career of success.
In those interviews, it's impossible to feel that you are not being judged, and especially in today's American culture, you really are being judged and evaluated.
Plus he is an especially good, sensitive, sweet and brilliant individual. But none of those qualities necessarily gets you a job. I gently suggested that when you do get jobs you have to compromise on a lot of levels. So if he is too busy at Christmas to see his friends as often as he would like he will at least have enough money to have fun when he does.
All I could think of to relax him after the stressful interview was for us to go by El Matate, and get one of his favorite burritos. Tomorrow night we will order pizza. Later tonight, when his brother in Missoula gets online, they will play video games.
Thus is my life as a parent.
(Don't even get me started what it is like at work.)
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
One of My Readers
Yesterday my youngest son slept in while I fiddled around doing the usual weekend chores -- paying bills, doing the laundry, washing dishes, cleaning...
When he woke up we went to our favorite hamburger place -- Whizburger -- for lunch. Then he watched an exciting Giants game on TV with me. (They won, 14-10.)
In between, he played video games long-distance with his brother in Missoula, who talked to us both over an Internet connection.
In ;ate afternoon, he went off with his Mom to practice driving. He has his license; he just needs to improve his driving skills.
He talked with me about getting nervous in job interviews. This is relevant because he has two coming up. He told me a story that I'd never heard before about an interview two years ago for an internship -- that he got.
In his letter, he addressed the hiring officer as Mister because they had a male-sounding name. When he got to the interview the person appeared to be a female, so he nervously apologized for addressing her as a man.
She then told him that she identified as a man, making the entire exchange even more awkward for him.
That's like in San Francisco for a young guy trying to find his way.
I just love our talks. He is such an impressive young man, even as he takes a gap year from college. He is reading six books -- all of them impressive works. He loves to read, a rarity for his generation.
When he woke up we went to our favorite hamburger place -- Whizburger -- for lunch. Then he watched an exciting Giants game on TV with me. (They won, 14-10.)
In between, he played video games long-distance with his brother in Missoula, who talked to us both over an Internet connection.
In ;ate afternoon, he went off with his Mom to practice driving. He has his license; he just needs to improve his driving skills.
He talked with me about getting nervous in job interviews. This is relevant because he has two coming up. He told me a story that I'd never heard before about an interview two years ago for an internship -- that he got.
In his letter, he addressed the hiring officer as Mister because they had a male-sounding name. When he got to the interview the person appeared to be a female, so he nervously apologized for addressing her as a man.
She then told him that she identified as a man, making the entire exchange even more awkward for him.
That's like in San Francisco for a young guy trying to find his way.
I just love our talks. He is such an impressive young man, even as he takes a gap year from college. He is reading six books -- all of them impressive works. He loves to read, a rarity for his generation.
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