Nobody puts baillee in the corner

Several months ago, I entertained the idea of getting a second job again, and I was fortunate enough to get an interview for a server position at a restaurant. Everything was going well until I entered the last phase of the interview with the establishment’s manager.

Now, I have been on many a job interview in my day, and I have also conducted many interviews myself. I personally love to ask people what their favorite movie is because you can tell a lot about a person from their favorite movie (not in non-judgemental and fun way). However, I would never patronize them or and call their favorite movie(s) generic and/or predictable like this particular manager did to me.

After asking me about my favorite movies, they then proceeded to ask me about my aspirations. I eagerly explained my dreams of becoming a writer, working as a professor for a spell, and eventually wanting to own a production company. They essentially told me I was wasting my time, and I was no different than the very money-grabbing, corporate, and impersonal a-holes I wanted to differentiate myself from.

Finally, they asked me what my ultimate dream job would be without any financial or power constraints. I confidently proclaimed I would love to have my very own programming niche at Alamo Drafthouse. They scoffed and told me I wasn’t dreaming big enough and asked why I wouldn’t strive to own the entire company. After explaining I was more of a hands-on person and how I didn’t like the idea of being a higher up (No offense, Tim League. You’re seriously a personal hero of mine.) because I preferred smaller roles, this particular individual rolled their eyes and chalked it up to my generation.

After they shook my hand and finished up the usual formalities, I felt completely defeated. Someone legitimately sat across from me and told me my dreams were measly, and I wasn’t imaginative enough with the very pop culture I pride myself on. I’m already an emotionally fragile and brooding (ish) writer so having someone scrutinize and ridicule everything I work on and work towards completely broke me. I tried to shrug it off as me being overly sensitive and/or a misinterpretation of their actions. The more I thought about it though, the more I understood how out of line they were.

They didn’t know me outside of a piece of paper chronicling my job experience. They had no right to judge my dreams. They haven’t read anything I’ve written, and they don’t know I’m finally starting to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. This person made me appreciate my main job even more because I can write on scraps of receipt papers without fear of judgement and draw on chalkboards and come up with movie quotes from all of my predictable movies,  and most importantly, not have to deal with a boss who is a pretentious jerk. Everything this manager said just affirmed I’m in the right place, and I need to stop trying to avoid fate.

Sure, my dreams of being a writer/professor/owner of a small production company might sound outlandish to some, but it’s what I want to do. I like being busy. In fact, I thrive off of it. I love running around and making a million plans all for the same day. I love writing and teaching/mentoring and helping others, so my dream careers are what I want. So what if some manager of a local food joint told me I couldn’t do it? They don’t know me like my friends and family do. They weren’t there when I got my high school diploma. They weren’t there when I somehow managed to get my college degree. They weren’t there when I worked for 15 days straight, including two or three doubles during my first summer in the real world. They weren’t even there when I got promoted twice in less than eight months. They were only there for a little extra cash in my wallet.

Though their behavior was in poor taste, I’m grateful to them for making me realize how much I wanted to fight for my dreams and aspirations. I know what I want, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Even grad school.

(P.S. I hope everyone is cool with my apparent, new Marc Maron approach to this blog where I work out my issues with unknowing participants aka y’all, man.)