“That’s me.”
“Hello I am Jane Smith from Carrere Steel Company. You have registered for our new job recruitment drive, yes?”
Suzy knew Jane as a recruiter from her past assignments. She had gone through multiple interviews and had been a finalist in MRE’s(Manufacturing Resource Exchange) Annual Talent Treks, a nation-wide talent hunt for the best new hires and top talent. Suzy had been selected as a finalist but had been beaten in the head-to-head interviews. Suzy was also an excellent technician and had been interviewed before for several jobs, but had been turned away for one reason or another for being too qualified or having too many years in the same post.
“Yes.”
“Great. I need to you give me a few details before I can commence your interview.”
“Do I need to send you a resume?”
“No, we already have that. I’d like to know a few details first, so that I can layout the interview schedule for you.”
“Okay.Her eyebrows locked in a frown, she tried one last time. “And if that doesn’t work?”
His eyes rolled back trying to match the exhale of her frustrated sigh. “We’ll find another way.” Straining to find a way to console her, he said, “We always do.”
The way she looked at him, twisted by doubt and doused by exhaustion, was the same way he felt looking into her eyes.
He took another deep breath, trying to rebuke the repeated thought; he was married to a working woman and didn’t love it.
When she’d first told him she was offered a position at American Family Insurance, he’d thought, “Oh wonderful!”
It wasn’t the type of work he could respect, her training was in art, but he loved her and thought she deserved a chance to grow.
It wasn’t long until the company extended a transfer to their out-of-state headquarters. She jumped at the opportunity and he reminded himself that he loved her and could survive the adjustments.
After she accepted the job, the honeymoon phase ended and every aspect of their lives changed. Most of the changes were for the better; they had a much better quality of life. Like a lottery winner, they spent freely and dumped whatever profits they’d made back into a new home, a new car, and extravagant vacations. It was a thrill ride of extravagance and fun, but the ride was over and now they had to climb their way out.
Life quickly settled back down and they began to feel the swing again.
There was the new, cheaper car and a salary cut, and even the furniture got a downgrade, including the bed in their bedroom. They’d stopped paying off their credit cards and Richard Jr. had lost his sports scholarship, and got a job at the local Quik-Mart. No longer insulated from their new reality, they began to feel the pressure. Everyone wants more but if you just buy and buy, you’re only making bigger holes in your pockets to fill.
Sometimes he found her staring into space, with a vacant look, lost in thought. He knew how much money they’d lost and she didn’t want to keep going back.
Salaries were cut and they continued to lose ground, and they were $10,000 in the hole. Richard Jr. had been on her case about the debt they were in and she’d finally relented and had put the bills on the credit card.
