Summer Fun – Chapter 1 – Help Wanted

CHAPTER 1 – HELP WANTED

It’s early May and I am in the last quarter of 11th Grade, my Junior Year of high school. I attend one of the two high schools in the Spring Haven School District. Our district is aptly named after my hometown of Spring Haven, a medium-sized Michigan town, not too big and not too small. It’s been a good place to grow up, I think so at least. Like any town, it’s not perfect, but it’s home and the only place I’ve lived for all of my 17 years.

My school is Maplewood High, home of the “Mighty Mustangs”. I, myself, am not among the esteemed Mustangs. I was never much for participating in school sports. Like too many people these days, I prefer to find my competition in front of the TV with a game controller in hand.

For as much as I love sitting around on my ass, wasting time, playing video games, I do make myself get some physical activity. I don’t strive to be a super-muscular built-up guy, but I try to stay in-shape. These days, it seems, that several of my classmates are putting on a lot of weight from inactivity and eating too much junk food; I’m trying my best to avoid that from happening to me.

I have a younger brother, Luke, who’s now 15. We get along pretty much as you would expect brothers to, everything is a big competition between us. Luke is more of a sneaky trouble-maker than I ever was; but I always seem to be the one in hot water with Mom and Dad when we have an argument. I am the older brother after all, the one who is supposed to “set the good example.” He loves to use that to his advantage, and often. Those rare times we are not at each other’s throats, we get along fairly well. We have fun shooting hoops in the driveway or going for a good run together.

Marc Dietrich and Jeff Gardener are my closest and best friends that I hang out with most. We all have our driver’s licenses, but none of us own a car yet. We still enjoy riding our bikes to get around town even though most of our peers now drive. On the plus side, bike riding gives me another physical activity to help stay in shape.

Our favorite destination is the Pizza Depot, it’s one of those cool pizza restaurant/arcades loved by the local teenagers. Even though we all have X-Boxes, PlayStations and PC’s at home, it’s good to actually get up, and out, of the house. We like the old-style arcade games they have, Pac Man, Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Guitar Hero, classic pinball machines, etc. Using our bikes to get here satisfies two of my current teenage-needs, video games and some physical activity; win-win for me.

I should mention that there is another strong teenage-need that I have not had so much luck with satisfying… girls, specifically a girlfriend. My grandmother always told me, “Oh Kyle, with those dazzling green eyes, you’ll have all the pretty girls lining up for you.” Let’s just say I’m still waiting for that to happen…

Overall, I can’t complain, I guess I’m a pretty good-looking guy and I have noticed girls checking me out on rare occasions… very rare occasions. My problem is that I’m on the shy and reserved side. I’ll be honest and admit that, all too often, I am too afraid to take the risk, make a little eye-contact and ask a girl out, mainly for fear of rejection.

I had a bad experience with that in the 10th Grade. I got all hung up on this girl named Karla Whittington who sat next to me in English class. She was friendly, seemed happy to see me, and we became good friends. For a guy like me, not having a lot of self-confidence, I tended to make a big deal out of any pretty girl showing attention.

It didn’t take long before I started to develop warm and fuzzy feelings. I would fantasize about us dating and doing fun things. When I finally got my courage up, I asked Karla if she would like to go out with me. She was cordial about it, but told me, “No.” Boy, was English class ever awkward after that, for both of us. I felt by asking her out, I may have killed our easy friendship.

I have a real tendency to over-think things and I let it bother me, to be honest, it broke my heart. I know it sounds silly just because one girl turned me down, but it really takes a lot of courage for me to ask someone out. Looking back, I probably invested too much hopeful dreaming into it and that made the letdown that much harder on me.

I’m generally not very outgoing with people, especially people that I don’t know very well. Simple advice to self; I really need to get out of my shell and learn to be more carefree. Sure, easy enough to say to yourself, but not so easy to figure out how to do.

I really am creature of routine, I love routine, not so many unpleasant surprises, but also not very many pleasant ones either. I think my answer is to find something that gets me out of my comfort-zone. It’s not that I want to ditch my friends or anything, but maybe I need to meet some new people to interact with.

—–

This afternoon, Marc and Jeff and I are at the Pizza Depot. While I’m dropping some quarters into the Street Fighter game for a match against Marc, I notice they put up a “Help Wanted” sign. Hmmm… maybe applying for a job is what I need? This might be a cool place to work and it is about time I start earning money to buy a car at some point.

After the game, I walk over to the counter that separates the dining/arcade area from the work spaces and ask for an application. A big dude, with flour dust all over his apron, named Eric hands me one. “Return this Benny, when you’re done,” he tells me.

I sit down and fill it out. Once I’m done, I see the guy whose tag says he is Shift Manager Benny. He quickly reads what I’ve filled out and says, “Okay, this looks good. We’ll give you a call if we would like you to come in for an interview.”

Back at the table our pizza has arrived. Marc asks, “Dude, did just you apply for that job here?”

“Yeah, I really need to start saving up for my own car.”

“Don’t we all…”

“This would a great place for you to work, Kyle. That way you could still hang out with us.” Jeff says.

“How am I going to ‘hang out’ if I’m working?”

“Well, maybe you could get us free pizza and game credits?” he grins.

“I don’t think it works that way, Jeff.”

I’m not really expecting much to happen, but it’s an easy enough first step to building a new and out-going Kyle.

—–

Am I ever surprised to receive a call the very next day. They would like me to come in about the job for an informal interview, this afternoon, if I’m available. Immediately hopping on my bike, I ride on over to the Pizza Depot.

I meet with Mr. Bill Moore, who informs me that he is part-owner and manager. Mr. Moore is a rather large and imposing man, and at 6’-4” or more, some might say intimidating. He’s in his mid to late 50s and it’s easy to see that years of hard work have left him with thinning light brown hair beginning to gray. Beyond that, he has a kind face and a gentle nature about him. We shake hands and sit down in a booth.

Mr. Moore is reading my job application, “Okay, let’s see what we have here: Kyle Stevenson, 17-years old, no prior employment experience and you attend Maplewood High School. Reason for wanting to work here: ‘This would be a fun place to work,’ and you ‘would like to start saving money to buy a car and for college.’ Is all of this correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please, no need to be so formal with all the ‘sir’ business, you may call me Bill.”

“Okay, Bill.” It seems a little awkward calling a possible employer by his first name, but if that’s what the man wants, so be it.

“Well Kyle, the position we are offering is not a glamorous one. You would be bussing tables, washing dishes, wiping down the arcade games, sweeping the floor, and generally keeping things clean around here. We also will need you to occasionally help with making and baking pizzas at extra-busy times. I can only offer minimum wage to start, but we can see how it goes from there.”

“Sounds good to me sir – I mean Bill.”

“We do have a few expectations here at Pizza Depot that I will go over with you. It’s important for you to be on time for all your shifts. If you should need to call in sick, we ask that you give as much notice as possible for us to call in a replacement. We’ll provide you with red shirts, a hat and an apron like you see our other employees wearing. You may wear blue jeans and tennis shoes if you wish, but they must be clean and no holes in them. We may not be able to offer you very many hours at first; but, as we get busier in the summertime, that should change.”

I nod in agreement and Bill continues, “I understand how popular this establishment is with young people. If you should work here, I need you to understand that you are not to be distracted by your peers visiting as customers while you’re on-duty. When you are off-duty, you are welcome to enjoy this place with your friends for as long as you wish. I’m sure you understand the importance of this.”

“Yes, I do, I won’t let you down.”

“Well okay, Kyle, consider yourself hired. How easy was that for your first job interview?”

“Very easy.”

Bill and I shake hands, “Welcome aboard, I think you’ll enjoy being a part of our team.”

“I think I will too. When can I start?”

“Come back next Tuesday at 4:00 and report to my daughter Renee, she’s returning from college for the summer and will be working here as a shift manager. She’ll train you on all of your duties, and get you all set up with shirts, hats and a work schedule.”

“Thank you, Bill!”

—–

Tuesday of the following week, I arrive at Pizza Depot 15-minutes before 4:00, my mother said to always show up early and make a good first-impression. When I arrive, I ask a passing waitress for Renee Moore, she motions towards the kitchen area, “She’s in the back.”

As I’m walking towards the opening that leads to working spaces, I see a cute blonde, with shorter-length hair, who looks to be about 20 or 21 come out to greet me.

“Hi, I’m Renee. You must be Kyle?” she smiles and reaches out to shake my hand. My first impressions are for having such a big, tall father, his daughter is rather short and petite, maybe 5’ – 2” at most.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Dad told me you were coming in today. Welcome to the Pizza Depot crew, come on in the back with me.”

She leads me through the kitchen area to a small back office. “Okay, first we need to get you set up with some uniform shirts, hats and an apron.” She looks me up and down, “How tall are you? You look about 5’-10”, 5’-11”?”

“I’m 5’-10””

Renee sorts through a big box of red Pizza Depot shirts and pulls one out. “Okay, how about an Adult Male Medium, try this on. You’re pretty slender so if it’s too loose we can try a smaller size.”

I try the shirt on over my t-shirt, it’s a little loose, but fits fine. She digs out a few more of the same size along with a hat and an apron.

Renee spends the afternoon with me going over all the duties I will be expected to do. Bill was right, it’s not a glamorous position washing dishes and cleaning up, but I think it will be cool working here. Renee and everyone I met that day seem like fun people to work with.

I work a couple of days a week for these first several weeks, usually a Tuesday afternoon and a Friday or a Saturday afternoon. Bill did say it wouldn’t be very many hours at first, but they should pick up in the summertime. By the time the school year ends in early June, I was bumped up to working four afternoons a week.

—–

I enjoy working at Pizza Depot, not so much for the tasks I am assigned; cleaning dishes and mopping bathrooms isn’t fun for anyone. It’s because of my co-workers, we get along great and that makes it fun.

Bill is great to work for, I think he has taken a liking to me for being such a “responsible young man,” always arriving to work on time and getting my job done. He gave me a 50-cent per hour raise after my first four weeks working here.

I can already tell that working here with these people has been good for me, I’m loosening up and it’s bringing me out of my shell.