Cheers to the New Year!

As the year comes to a close I have very much to be thankful for, and many memories to look back on.  For the most part this year flew by quickly, so much happened in what feels like a short amount of time.  I began the year entering my final semester at Ball State University, a three-year relationship, and one handsome little kitten.

In March I went from dating the man of my dreams to being engaged to him. January seventh marked my three years with Matthew. On March sixth while meeting Houston’s local elephants I was asked a very important question! Matthew proposed that we spend the rest of our lives together, changing our status to engaged.

In May I graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology! Four years of hard work all paid off the second I walked across that stage with a degree, something many people aren’t fortunate enough to obtain.

First Day of Work

In July I accepted my first position out of college working in Applied Behavioral Analysis, and promptly started on July 20^th. I am currently six months into my career, and having a steady job in my field couldn’t be more perfect for someone who has just graduated from college. I love my co-workers and all my clients dearly, I couldn’t imagine working at another center.

In the beginning of August we adopted a new family member, Penny. She is the perfect kitten, and a wonderful sister for our cat Leo.  She has blessed us in so many ways and I couldn’t be more thankful for how well her and Leo get along.

After such a busy year I can only look forward to growing in 2016. Saying I do, building a family, and developing in my new career. Although many may disagree, 2015 was a good year; not everything was perfect, but the good most definitely outweighed the bad.

 

Cheers to the New Year, and here is to making 2016 another year I can be proud of.

Keep it Sassy 

Childhood Gambling

Once you turn eighteen in the US you are legally allowed to gamble. Gambling comes in all forms, but a popular form is Scratch off tickets. These tickets produced by the state lottery can range in price from 1$ up to 30$, and winnings can range from $1 to Thousands. Odds are slim but that doesn’t stop people from contributing millions of dollars per year to these little pieces of paper. I’m guilty too; my fiancé calls lottery tickets “Stupid tax.” Although frivolous and often wasteful, they can be fun and sometimes extremely addicting.

These days there are new forms of what I consider “gambling” and they are targeted towards young children. One of my favorite Youtubers, Graveyardgirl (Bunny Meyer) has done a few episodes on her channel unboxing Shopkins. Shopkins are little figurines with no worth, just collector’s items with cute names and equally adorable design. They follow the theme of supermarket products, clothing items, and every day tools; cookies, pencils, boots, hats, and vegetables. After looking at the website there is said to be 3 series and 115 figurines all together.

The main way to buy these products is in what they call “Blind Baskets” each basket has two figurines that are sealed in yellow plastic so they are a complete surprise until purchased and opened. As it could be guessed there is no science to getting all different figures, duplicates happen. Another issues is that there are various figurines that are considered rare (harder to come by) which result in more purchases in hopes to collect them all!

I did some math and figured what it costs per figurine. I looked up the price from target and they retail for 2.99 per basket (3.20 with tax in the state of Indiana). So this comes down to 1.60 per figure and all 115 figurines, assuming you get no duplicates, is 368 dollars. As mentioned these things have ZERO worth just fun for collecting. In my opinion they are the equivalent of a scratch off ticket. If you get a duplicate its like a losing ticket, and getting a rare item is that of winning some significant some of cash. It the end, it is all a gamble.

Although I’m not of some odd religion where I see gambling as sinful and work of the devil, I feel that it is important to understand the possibilities that these fun collectors games are similar to those of betting. It could be concluded that these tendencies in young children could create the need to wager money in the future when the prize may not always be so tangible. Over all, its just an opinion and I don’t judge anyone who participates, this is simply and observation.

BUST IT OUT with a SMILE!

This time last year I was finishing up my first senior semester at Ball State and spending a good majority of my down time watching Netflix and laying around. (Those were the days) Now I barely have time to do things I enjoy. I work my day job, the whole reason I went to college, for 35ish hours a week and my old serving job for another 10-15 hours. I’m siting here writing as I have anxiety over the fact I need to organize and clean our apartment. I just got off my third day in a row working both jobs and I’m exhausted. I really regret not taking advantage of the time I had in college to do nothing between classes and homework.

I’m slowly trying to get moved into my new apartment and juggle both jobs along with sleep. I feel like I don’t get but one hour before bed to have to myself, and I’m too busy getting my life in order so I don’t live in chaos. I don’t necessarily need the second job, but I just can’t let it go. I’m starting to drive myself insane. But regardless I’ve learned a few things working in both the professional word as well as still maintaining a part time server-life status.

One reason I love serving is because I know what I’m doing, and I do it pretty well. The environment I work in is more open, I can joke with my coworkers say things that you would never hear in a boardroom and tell my managers to “suck it” in a joking manor without getting a second look. I love that I don’t have to feel like I need to be someone else; I can 100% be myself without judgment.

I like working in a more stable career but I feel like everyone is walking on eggshells and has to pretend to be someone else. I feel like I am to outspoken and tend to throw people off because I am not one to hold things back or be REAL! I don’t like to feel like I have to pretend to be something I’m not, but I feel like even though I hold back quite a bit I’m still not the person I would prefer to be.

In the server world you get cool with your co-workers quickly, I’m just getting comfortable with a few people at my new job. Both places have co-workers you aren’t fond of and those you are super tight with. Either way, I realize there are many differences that will keep these worlds different; both enjoyable, and frustrating, in their own rights.

Working in a “real job” versus serving makes me realize how hard serving really is. People think serving is for those who can’t do anything else. To be honest, it takes a lot to be a server and not just anyone can do it or do it well. It takes multitasking, endurance, and even strength. All the money you make relies on YOU and YOU only. You can’t just sit on your phone and play games; you’re constantly running around.

If you want to make money serving you have to pretend the customer is NUMBER ONE and make them feel like they are high priority. I can be having a terrible day and I have to walk up to tables like I am the happiest person on the planet and I couldn’t be more excited to serve them! (I guess acting is a requirement I forgot to mention.) There is no taking it easy, and if you’re feeling sick there is no time to rest or take it easy, you have to BUST IT OUT. 

Working in the cooperate world people call off for the most ridiculous reasons, sick or not. If you call off as a server you SCREW a lot of people over. The rest of your team becomes more overwhelmed without you there to take those tables and it could leave the servers working having to take 5 plus tables in a row. Tonight we had one server who was sick and our busser who called off, this made the rest of us super busy and I didn’t stop moving from the time I clocked in till the time I clocked out. I constantly had something in my hands and never sat down unless I was kneeling next to a table to take their order or help them with their tabletop computer system.  I’m not saying this for sympathy or to make myself seem like a harder worker than those who work behind a desk, but it makes the point that servers are hard workers too. People don’t give those in the restaurant scene enough credit, and tend to think they are a bunch of lazy know-nothings.

Moral of the story, all professions have their difficulties, and I know for a fact that serving is its own demon from personal experiences on both sides of the job spectrum.