More Musings

“If you were offered a similar job with similar pay, would you stay here or switch?”

“Stay.”

“And why would you stay?”

Laura shrugged. “I like the team.”

“Good enough,” said the supervisor, jotting down her answer and getting back to his work.

Laura went to clock out—on time for the first time in a week. What her supervisor didn’t realize was that she wasn’t looking for a “similar job with similar pay.” She was looking for more. A college graduate can only take retail for so long before something snaps, and she was reaching that point.

Maybe a move to Maine is what I need, Laura thought as she punched in her nine-digit ID number to clock out and then punch in her four-digit code for her locker. It wasn’t like the small city she was in now had anything to offer her. Job hunting was going no where and life was as dull as can be. There was nothing here to stimulate her anymore. Sure, there were some things and some people she would miss, but on a whole…

Laura gathered her things and headed out onto the sales floor. She liked to walk around the store every once in a while after work to see what was going on. She spent so much time in certain areas during the day that it was easy to lose touch with things elsewhere. Besides, mindless meandering gave her time to think.

She had stayed in this city after graduation because she thought her connections would help her find a job. Fail. Then she stayed because she had friends here, but most soon left as well so Fail there, too. She had limited her job search to the state because she didn’t want to be too far from the guy she thought she was going to marry. Well, they were no more, so there was yet another Fail.

Everything was a bust. Best to get out now while she could, right? Maine didn’t necessarily mean a better job, but at least it’d be a change in scenery. Who knows? Maybe it would turn up a job? Maybe a guy? Maybe the key to knocking down her writer’s block. Anything was possible and she wouldn’t know until she tried, right? At least she’d be near the ocean. After living in landlocked states her entire life, that alone could be a game changer somehow.

Laura sighed as she stood in the Home Goods department, looking at wall hangings. She didn’t actually like change and wasn’t exceptionally adventurous. She preferred stability above all else in life. She had been set to settle down and start a family in a few years. Now she would have to start from scratch.

She was looking at a dinnerware set that was on sale when a coworker walked by.

“You should buy it,” he told her.

“On our wages? Yah right!” She laughed.

“Hey, if not now, when?” And with that he walked off.

Should she move? Make a run for it while she still could? Throw caution to the wind?

Hey, if not now, when?