The Answer

OK, OK ... you've been guessing long enough

The qustion: What do all of these places have in common?  

Ann, no it is not places all in a stripmall even though Florida is full of stripmalls.

Nettie, they are not all franchises even though most of them are, that's not the answer.

Riverdaughter, yes they are all retail oriented, yes they are all stores, yes they are places you can buy something, no this is not the answer. 

Nanmm11, they were not all businesses that were destroyed here in the hurricane, thank God.

Phinney, they are not all places on my block and they are not part of a super duper mall being built here in Boca. They are not places I worked when I was a teenager although this is the closest answer.

Slo, woohoot, agreed you do kind of suck at games. Well ... at least at this one :-)

Mumsy, you stopped by before it even became a game:-)

     The answer is ... they are some of the places I took my daughter Mandy to last Saturday to fill in job applications. We made a day of it and I'm talking a whole day of it.

     Mandy has recently finished all of her Cosmetology hours in Beauty School (YEA MANDY) and since she is not 18 yet she planned on going back to take some more hours in Barbering. By the time she is 18 we were hoping that she could start work in a salon.

     So we were searching for an after school and weekend job. We must have been expecting to walk into a couple of places and have someone say "yes, we are hiring, can you start tomorrow?" That's exactly how it worked on HER last 2 job searches that WE went on. 

     I know that some of you must be thinking Eeeek, she took her Mom with her to look for a job, no wonder no one said yes. You are just going to have to trust me here when I say if I did not go with her she never would have even walked through one door.This girl is bright and beautiful and oozes with self confidence (if she knows you).  

     For the most part it was a very enjoyable day, we ate ice cream at Marble Slab and had lunch at Poilio Tropical (all for the good of the job search of course). We had a lot of really nice conversations with strangers, I adore striking up conversation with people that I don't know.

      We spent a lot of quality time together discussing the future which provided some fairly painless Motherly lessons to be slipped in through out the day. Lesson giving opportunities are becoming less and less frequent, my little girl is growing up. (awww, bitter sweet)

 

     We just kept going and going and going waiting for someone to say yes. Finally Panara Bread told her to come back in the evening when the hiring manager was in and that they were looking to hire someone ASAP. Yea! we finally got to go home.

     There was a message on the machine from Overstuffed Subs by the time we got home but by then she had already set her sights on Panara Bread. 

     She did get the job so we spent the whole morning on Monday replacing her Social Security Card and Drivers License which mysteriously disappeared the minute she needed them.

     She started on Tuesday, same shopping center as both of her previous jobs, TGI Friday's and Cold Stone Creamery. The location perfect, maybe a mile from home and right by our Gym, everyone we know walks right past the window there. Perfect job fit, or was it?

     After her first day of work, which she loved. There was a message on the answering machine at home from Caesar's Hair Salon asking her to come in the next day to fill in an application for an assistant position:-)

     This is one of the many placesthat told us Saturday to come back when she has her license and turns 18. OMG this is the job you hope to start out in when all is said and done with school. She asked me to come with her to fill in the application which worked out to everyone's benefit.

     Woo Hoo !!! She got the job, it's an artsey little shop with a tight knit very diversified staff and the shop owner seems thrilled to have Mandy there. He promised that this was going to be all about continued education and that the minute she is licensed he will give her a chair and help her to build her cliental.

     I am so excited for her. More to come on Mandy's new job.

                                *** Coy ***