lesson 14 My First Job-The Maid I was studying theater at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and feeling anxious and uncertain about my future. Will I be able to support myself? I wondered. That summer, I decided to if I could get out on my own.
Two girlfriends and I piled into a car and headed to Aspen, Colo., where I found a job as a maid at a resort hotel. I don’t remember what I earned, but it was so little that I lived on spaghetti, brown rice and Kool-Aid.
I was at the hotel by six o’clock every morning to help with continental breakfast. When breakfast was finished, I cleaned the room where it was served and then the conference rooms and lobby rest rooms. I had never been in a men’s room before, and I was always terrified of someone walking in while I was on my knees scrubbing the floors and toilets.
I came from an upper-middle-class background, and my parents’ friends always treated me well. But now that I was a servant, I found that many of the guests of the same background were not so nice. That was a shock.
People were supposed to serve themselves at the continental breakfast. it was my job to circulate through the room and replenish coffee and juice. But some people wanted me to do everything for them. I remember one man who kept ordering me to get his food and demanding things we did not serve. He was also very critical. Even though I wanted to say, “Go, get it yourself,” I knew it was my job to be quiet and do in a nice way whatever I was told. So I’d take a deep breath and somehow get what he wanted.
Still, I’ve never forgotten how it felt to be spoken to so rudely.Today,whenever I am in a cab or being waited on, I always try to be as considerate as possible. Service-industry jobs are not easy, and they’re even harder when people treat you like dirt.
My first job also helped me achieve more confidence. After that summer I realized that what I had been afraid of in acting was failure. I now knew what the worst thing would be if I failed at it without really trying. I decided to give it all my energy. If I failed, at least I would always know that I had done my best.