Rejection from the West

My first job rejection occurred last week. It felt like the girl I had just met, kinda sorta maybe liked, like like-liked, and just maybe had a crush on, had just informed me that "it" wasn't working. Wait... what? Are you sure? (Fast-paced brain functioning) Well, can't we work it out? I didn't know you felt that way? Hold on, what can I do to make it better? You... are... my... everythingggggggggggggggg (sound trails off into darkness.)

I had high hopes for a job with the financial department at ski resort in a place called Incline Village on Lake Tahoe. I had spoken with a very nice lady on the phone 2 weeks beforehand and told her about my situation, desires and ambitions. She was highly receptive, and said that she'd be interested in hiring me to help create, and ensure accuracy within, the annual report for the mountain, which takes about 5 months to complete. This would have given me great experience with financial statements and budget constraints, in an area of the country that had a room available with my name on it, with a bunch of my best friends who were already there. The Finance Director lady said that she only needed to get it approved by the mountain's Controller, at which point she'd let me know when I would need to show up.

My excitement meter had risen to Mount Everest levels. This would be fun, stable, and give me good work experience. I'd even get to drive cross-country, a kid with a dream. Also, it's lack of permanence meant that I'd be back east when spring rolled around. I'd even begun to tell people that I had landed a sick job in an exotic place called California. In hindsight, telling people was my biggest mistake of all. Couldn't I see how badly I had jinxed myself?

The e-mail finally came. It was short. Too short. Gmail lets you read the first 10 or so words of the e-mail, and, glancing over them, my eyes focused in on the word "unfortunately." My heart sunk. I opened the e-mail to read that she was "unfortunately" back at work from a week vacation! YES! a lifeline! But the rest of the e-mail reported that the Controller had decided that there wasn't enough room in the budget for me, and that she was very sorry that it didn't work out. I think I read that e-mail about 4 times in 30 seconds. She wished me well, and said that if I ever got out there that we should meet up. If I ever got out there? I CAN ONLY GET OUT THERE IF YOU GIVE ME A DAMN JOB YOU SLOPPY SALLY!!!!!! I was actually frozen in time. It could have been 30 seconds or 30 minutes, I just sorta stared at the computer screen as my heart began to pound in my chest. Eventually I sort of rolled onto my bed and just laid there. Back to square 1. Time to reboot.