MeetFrugals_9780062668134_FINAL_EB0110_CC17.indd 3 1/10/18 10:16 AM
College Grad Seeks Meaningful, Gainful Employment. Fails. | 3
unwanted teeth with a sadistic rip from the metal jaws of my staple remover, heedless of the gaping maw left in its wake. I peeled off Post-it notes so old they barely posted anymore, and taped them down on all four sides to a blank piece of paper
I’d
whisk up with my rubber-covered finger- tip from a stack in the center of the table.
I’d
then pick up the second piece of paper from the folder and begin afresh, as if for the first time, until
I’d
performed this ritual on every single piece of paper in the folder. Then
I’d
move on to the next folder in my in-box. I sat on a metal folding chair at a plastic folding table with two other women in this windowless, cavernous ware- house. I was just five miles from where
I’d
blissfully spent the past four years double majoring in political science and creative writing, which
I’d
assumed would somehow al- chemize into a profession.
I’d
never quite identified what that profession might be, but I figured that applying for jobs would be like applying for college: line up all the cor- rect paperwork, check all the right boxes, and get accepted. Th
at’s
adulthood, right?! The warehouse had gray-painted concrete walls and I
couldn’t
figure out why
you’d
bother to paint concrete gray, something I had plenty of time to mull over because there was no variation to my days, no additional tasks, nothing to do but get a box of files every morning and sit at my table for eight hours, straightening edges. The two women who worked alongside me were nice enough, and
we’d
chat as
OnPointRadio
