“I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple–in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things–your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is fading away.”
1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (The Message Bible)

According to the church’s calendar we are in the season of Ordinary Time, meaning that it’s not Advent, Christmas, Easter or Pentecost. Flash back to the Ordinary Time of Summer of 1984. I was a new high school graduate, just fresh out of school, and felt ready and capable to take on the world at that time in my life.

My first real job, if you can call it that, was a delivery driver for a pizzeria in Perry, GA. That lasted only one month. It was hard to find any steady work after that happened. After working at another pizzeria in the college town I was studying at, I applied for a position at the same business in a North Carolina town that I moved to. That was not a good working experience at all. I was being cross trained in all aspects of the business, without anyone telling me that I was being cross-trained. I went from cashier to cook to waitressing to
dough making to parking lot sweeping. I opened and I closed up the place. I did not want to work a 12 pm to 8 pm schedule, because that would mean work would have taken up my whole day. I did not want to sweep the parking lot. I did not want to make the dough for the day. That meant coming in early. I did get a hands-on example about the kingdom of God being built from a mustard seed. The dough was made using the ingredients of water, flour, and yeast. When the dough would rise from the yeast ingredient, I had to carry it to the table and cut it into pieces for the day. I also had to cut up the onions and peppers and make the bread and pizza sauce for the day as well. During my working time at the pizzeria, I was harassed and made fun of. There was one night a worker decided to lock me inside the cooler while he and someone else sprayed shaving cream on my car. I ended up writing my time down on the timesheet card and walking from the south end of town where the restaurant was to the north end of town where the house was. I was that exasperated and upset.

I finally had to go to the director and make a harassment report. Nothing was done about what I reported. I ended up quitting the despicable boss and the pizzeria. I felt like they had quit on me and dashed my dreams of a good and positive working experience. I found out later that the manager had died. I have never wanted to work at another pizzeria because of the
harassment and negative work experience I had. I was fresh out of college, with a new degree, but no definite real world work experience. I was basically an unskilled laborer. One time the manager had wanted another female assistant manager to work there. There were also two other male assistant managers already working. I saw him give them shiny new name tags. I did not receive one. That is when I began to think about quitting, because I knew I did not have the manager’s support. I had been demoted to the position of cook. I was not happy with that decision at all, especially since the manager had never really talked with me about it. That job taught me that I did not want to work as an assistant manager of a
pizzeria. It was too much hassle and negativity. I did not feel I had the support of the coworkers who were there at that time.

There seemed to also be a scenario every time I went to work that I was expected to solve. I also found out that another coworker was going to get a raise. I told another employee that I had been there longer. All she said was “I won’t do it.” I did not know what she meant by telling me that. I just could not get any respect from coworkers or management. All I felt was some major and utter frustration. I also felt like this just reinforced my being perceived as a problem employee by management and other coworkers, even though I knew I was not. I felt like I had been lied to, used, and betrayed by everyone on staff. I also remember thinking that it might have helped if the manager would have given me the assistant manager’s uniform; even though I knew that “a uniform does not an assistant manager make.” The manager kept threatening not to give me a reference. I remember not having any support from home or from the church I was a member of at that particular time. I remember feeling desperate and not wanting to go to work. I was also in a less than ideal living situation which I did not like at all. This all happened during the Summer of 1988.

Fast forward to the Summer of 2023. I am now currently working at a place I love. It is an independent and assisted living facility. The work can be hard and busy at times, but it is work that is worth doing. I can see the purpose of my work here. I have found life is not linear. It has a curvy, wavy and sometimes “rollercoaster ride” of a tumultuous twist. Life is partially coming to terms with, honoring, releasing, and reframing those experiences, which did not produce the desired outcomes. Growing and learning occurs even when it seems like nothing is happening. Father’s Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day are some of the special days included with Ordinary Time. Even though Ordinary Time may appear to be insignificant and somewhat routine, it is anything but! Have you ever thought about how extraordinary the time as well as that of our lives may be?

I did receive the “Employee of the Month” award for June/July 2023. I am parking in a designated parking place, I got a pin, and featured in the spotlight on the newsletter for July 2023. I am feeling like things have come full circle since the early pizzeria days from the Summer of 1988.

May you be uniquely blessed during this extraordinary time!
Marci

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