Blatheration: The winds of change are blowin'...

I don't want to jinx things, because am really superstitious about things like that, but I think I have a new job!

It's a weird one. Well... weird isn't the right word. It's a change.

A few months ago, my friend Jo told me about this new job she had. Ricky and I went over to see her new place and she was literally bursting with enthusiasm about how much money she was making as a cocktail waitress at Snoqualmie Casino. She began telling me lucrative tales about earning rent money with only two days worth of tips, (On her best night ever, she made $800 on just tips alone. Um, yes please?) and trying her darnedest to get my to apply.

Of course, at the time, all I could see where the negatives. It's so far away (about 45 minutes outside of Seattle), and I don't have a car. It's a casino. It's primarily night shifts and I like to keep those open in order to be able to do shows. Also, at the time I was freshly hired at Gordon Biersch, which was a minutes walk from our apartment, and I had high hopes that I would soon move up to server and start making the big bucks. So, naturally, I blew off her suggestions and continued to suffer as a poor starving artist.

Flash forward to last Thursday. I'm laying on my bed, dinking around on the computer, when Jo calls again telling me that the casino is hiring and urging me to apply. My first instinct is to politely decline - but then I start thinking of the positive outcomes of this situation. And let me tell you, there are plenty:

I could pay rent and buy groceries in the same month.
I could afford to take dance classes.
I could gain experience to get serving jobs closer to home.
I could afford to get a haircut(!).
I could stop feeling guilty for making Ricky foot most of our bills.
I could be financially independent. (Wouldn't that feel good?)
I could save money for our move to New York.
I could save money for our move to New York.
I could save money for our move to New York.

I could move to New York.

Plus, Jo lives really close to us so carpooling would be a natural option and the days we can't carpool I can use Ricky's car. And, if the tales she tells me about big tips are true, I would soon be able to buy a secondhand car of my own. Which would really come in handy this summer when I start working as an assistant and dance teacher at Stage Struck (a summer camp with performances and camps all around Seattle). Speaking of Stage Struck, I've been stressing about whether I'll be able to keep my job at Panera during the summer while I work that job, but if I worked at the casino I could do the camp during the days and continue to work nights.

Not to mention all the clothes and trinkets I've put off buying for the last two years. *sigh*

Jo drove me to my interview this morning, and as long as I pass my background test, I'm hired. I'm really excited. And nervous. And scared. I'm afraid working nights would make me less inclined to go out and audition, but as this season is coming to a close, it's unlikely that I would be cast in anything until next year anyways. I'll of course do all the seasonal auditions when they start rolling around in March, but from now until at least August my schedule is pretty clear. And I might as well be saving for New York instead of wasting my days working a crap shift for no money and napping on my days off. I might as well be doing something with my life.

Just last week as I was walking home from work with only a nap to look forward to, I was thinking of how desperately I needed a change. Panera worked great for me while I was in Red Ranger, but now that it's closed I'm just feeling depleted and purposeless. Something needed to happen, and then literally hours later this job fell in my lap.

Funny how that happens. ;)

Also, the feminist in me is currently furrowing her eyebrows being grumpy, but the rest of me is really excited about the cute (albeit skimpy) uniforms we have to wear. It reminds me of growing up watching old musicals and dreaming about the day that I too would lead the glamorous life of a showgirl suffering through that slightly demeaning job while waiting to make it big. And meet my true love. Who is preferably Gene Kelley.

Like Kathy Selden.