Anne Debates
...grad schools!
Anne came down to Boston to check out Harvard Divinity School, and we spent a day together earlier this week. I was so excited that I left the house without my phone that day (which resulted in about seven voicemails - the usual job interview things, plus a firm "Where the hell are you guys" from Nathan that got to me after Nathan himself did).
Despite feeding Harvard kids for a living, I had never actually set foot on campus until Annie dragged me across. Both surprisingly and not surprisingly (though the latter only in hindsight), the Harvard kids were really nice to me when I was out of uniform and they didn't recognize me. I had lunch, spoke about religion and other classes at Harvard, and felt like a student again. Nobody thought they were above me, even when I was grossly less informed on Sanskrit and other matters of discussion. It was, well, refreshing.
Nathan, Thomas and I all separated from Anne pretty quickly, as she was mostly talking to people about the school. During the open dinner, we each had a strict system of etiquette we were determined to follow as guests in this dinner. Thomas, feeling like he should not reap the benefits of a school he had no interest in applying to, hid in the corner and talked to no one and ate nothing. Nathan, feeling like he should not deny hospitality but also should not lead them on, ate an ran. And I, feeling I should not eat and run, ate copious amounts of food while asking all sorts of questions about the divinity school. If they asked if I was a student, I said "potential - I haven't turned in an application yet, but was invited to the dinner to get more information" (all of which, while deceitful, was true).
After a day in Harvard, and evening playing Settlers of Catan, and a night on the town, we parted ways. Walking home with me, Anne reminded me just how insightful she is. We started to talk about my long break from career jobs, and Anne spent much of this time telling me that I'm a better person for not jumping into my career right away. Knowing about most of my "starfish" from regular texting, calls and journal reading, she said that the experience has humanized me, and equaled me to the homeless people surrounding me. It's not like I was ever truly judging homeless people before doing this, but I was very unaware of just what their lives are like (and still am); college snobbiness almost tricked me into believing that anyone who didn't have their career in check just screwed up somewhere, which I'm slowly working out of.
Talking to Anne also made me think a little more about the possibility of leaving my pursuit of the publishing world (at least as far as bringing home bacon is concerned) for pursuit of working with the homeless. The more I've worked the two jobs that I have, the more I've come into contact with homeless people, and the more I wish I could do more. More than just drop a few coins, hand them food, or write a check to some charity. With Anne's help, I've come to realize one thing that I had not come to terms with before: I'm actually genuinely happy at Qdoba. Not just "content" or "tolerating it" or "settled" - I love the job. I love being around food all day, and getting paid to make food for others. I love a job where I can be on my feet and exercise. I love the people that work with me. I love slowly learning Spanish and failing hilariously at bilingual conversation in the process. But above all else, I love combining my knowledge of Qdoba with my knowledge of Spare Change, and being able to track down homeless people hiding spots and feed them all the food that goes to waste, helping both them and the environment in one sweep. The thought had never occurred to me before, but what if I'm still there because I want to be?
Even though I only really spent a day with Anne, she's given me a lot to think about.
-Didroy
Anne came down to Boston to check out Harvard Divinity School, and we spent a day together earlier this week. I was so excited that I left the house without my phone that day (which resulted in about seven voicemails - the usual job interview things, plus a firm "Where the hell are you guys" from Nathan that got to me after Nathan himself did).
Despite feeding Harvard kids for a living, I had never actually set foot on campus until Annie dragged me across. Both surprisingly and not surprisingly (though the latter only in hindsight), the Harvard kids were really nice to me when I was out of uniform and they didn't recognize me. I had lunch, spoke about religion and other classes at Harvard, and felt like a student again. Nobody thought they were above me, even when I was grossly less informed on Sanskrit and other matters of discussion. It was, well, refreshing.
Nathan, Thomas and I all separated from Anne pretty quickly, as she was mostly talking to people about the school. During the open dinner, we each had a strict system of etiquette we were determined to follow as guests in this dinner. Thomas, feeling like he should not reap the benefits of a school he had no interest in applying to, hid in the corner and talked to no one and ate nothing. Nathan, feeling like he should not deny hospitality but also should not lead them on, ate an ran. And I, feeling I should not eat and run, ate copious amounts of food while asking all sorts of questions about the divinity school. If they asked if I was a student, I said "potential - I haven't turned in an application yet, but was invited to the dinner to get more information" (all of which, while deceitful, was true).
After a day in Harvard, and evening playing Settlers of Catan, and a night on the town, we parted ways. Walking home with me, Anne reminded me just how insightful she is. We started to talk about my long break from career jobs, and Anne spent much of this time telling me that I'm a better person for not jumping into my career right away. Knowing about most of my "starfish" from regular texting, calls and journal reading, she said that the experience has humanized me, and equaled me to the homeless people surrounding me. It's not like I was ever truly judging homeless people before doing this, but I was very unaware of just what their lives are like (and still am); college snobbiness almost tricked me into believing that anyone who didn't have their career in check just screwed up somewhere, which I'm slowly working out of.
Talking to Anne also made me think a little more about the possibility of leaving my pursuit of the publishing world (at least as far as bringing home bacon is concerned) for pursuit of working with the homeless. The more I've worked the two jobs that I have, the more I've come into contact with homeless people, and the more I wish I could do more. More than just drop a few coins, hand them food, or write a check to some charity. With Anne's help, I've come to realize one thing that I had not come to terms with before: I'm actually genuinely happy at Qdoba. Not just "content" or "tolerating it" or "settled" - I love the job. I love being around food all day, and getting paid to make food for others. I love a job where I can be on my feet and exercise. I love the people that work with me. I love slowly learning Spanish and failing hilariously at bilingual conversation in the process. But above all else, I love combining my knowledge of Qdoba with my knowledge of Spare Change, and being able to track down homeless people hiding spots and feed them all the food that goes to waste, helping both them and the environment in one sweep. The thought had never occurred to me before, but what if I'm still there because I want to be?
Even though I only really spent a day with Anne, she's given me a lot to think about.
-Didroy