I Am Not Your Expectations

"I am not in this world to live up to your expectations and you are not in this world to live up to mine."  Bruce Lee

Finding work in this land of opportunity is much harder than I thought!  But luckily for me, I start my very first job in the United States in the morning, today August 19, 2013, exactly 2 months after I became a permanent resident.  I am super super excited and very optimistic about  the opportunity and all the new things I will learn and experience in this job.  Those who know me knows that I live for new experiences.

I have not worked since July 2010, so you can only imagine how anxious I am to see a check with my name on it.  I think I will literally kiss the ink off of it!

This is a job I never dreamed I would be doing, especially here in New York City, but it is one of the very first things I can remember wanting to do as a child.    I started growing impatient after sending  out literally hundreds of resumes to corporate America.  I forwarded it to pretty much everybody in my social circles, networked on LinkedIn and signed up with too many Staffing Agencies, all of which produced no fruits.  Strictly insurance companies respond to me.   I find that quite hilarious since they consider me uninsurable  yet they try to convince me that I would make a great sales agent for their products.   Ah, the irony! Lol! They take corporate greed to a whole new level.

The more rejections I got, the more I started realizing that maybe I should start thinking outside the box...or maybe I should just remove the box all together.  So in the wee hours of the morning (6:45 am) on July 31, I responded to a Craigstlist ad for a Natural Hair Stylist at a salon in the Bronx.  To be very honest, I didn't expect a response, so I was pleasantly surprised when my Blackberry started buzzing at 6:59 am and it was  an email response from the salon trying to set up an interview for the following week!  I don't think I slept that night.

The morning of August 5,  I woke up at 8:50 am - 50 minutes after my alarm went off.  I did not hear a thing!  I didn't fall asleep until about 3:00 am.  This bed in the basement of my Aunt's house that I have made mine for the last three years, has become so uncomfortable that a decent night's sleep is a luxury. I have spent so much time in this bed that there is a huge dent the shape of my body in the mattress that makes my nights restless as hell.  But despite my lack of sleep, I was able to pull myself together, google what people wear to salon interviews, map out the route, and walk into the salon just in time!

I put more effort than normal into my hair, make-up, all black outfit and statement silver jewelry.  When I looked into the mirror I was pleased and felt good about myself.   I rushed through the door without breakfast, knowing that everything was going to be ok.  I polished my nails and rocked to some conscious reggae music in my headphones while I waited for the Metro North train at the Hartsdale station.  At 12:32 pm I bounced into the salon and announced my arrival with a cheery "Good Afternooon!"  that was returned with the same enthusiasm by a dark maybe 40-something year old Lady busy washing the dreadlocks of a middle aged gentleman.

"You're Zara?"  she asked with a warm smile.

"I sure am!"  I replied confidently, liking the sound of my name rolling off her tongue.   I knew then that I was in the right place.  It was a very informal interview that ended with a big hug.  I was sold on her vision for her salon. The vibes felt calm and natural and I could immediately see myself working there.  She was understanding of my need to have time for dialysis treatments and at one point in the conversation where I got very emotional talking about my hair loss after chemo she gave me a big hug and told me everything was going to be alright.  It felt genuine and reassuring.  Thank you Alicia!  She said she like my vibes and attitude and invited me back for a second interview the following Monday for some training.  I left the salon feeling great and really optimistic about starting a totally new path.

As waited for the Metro North to return home, I decided to return a missed call to a very good friend of mine in Brooklyn.  He is much older than I am and I have a lot of respect and admiration for him.  I was excited to share the good news about the interview with him and he was excited to hear about it.  However, when I started explaining that it was for a hair stylist position, even though he said nothing, I heard all the enthusiasm drain from his being.  He said: "At least you find something to do."  The disappointment in his voice was so obvious that I couldn't pretend not to notice.

"You sound disappointed?  Skeptical? Something? What is it?  Say it."   I said.

He chuckled, "No, it's just that you are so smart and so educated, that you are not supposed to be comfortable with a job like that.  And society is going to look at it like......."

I cut him off! I didn't want to hear what society is going to think of my decision to learn to do hair instead of sitting home in my Aunt's basement for another year waiting for Corporate America to call me  so that I can prove to them that my Management Diploma, Bachelors of Psychology and Masters Courses are worth a damn.

What do you think?  Should I wait to wear a suit? What would you have done?

I have to get some sleep.  It's going to be a long first day tomorrow.  To be continued.......

xoxo
Zara