Back in January, after Hannah had broken up with Zach, she was left with no acceptances to PA school, no man and no marriage, and no job. John connected her with his office manager, but Beaumont has some very strange hiring practices, and because Hannah wasn't a certified MA (a nine-month course that costs $16,000), despite having a four-year college degree in microbiology, she couldn't find a job. Even when she applied to be a phlebotomist, nobody would hire her because they said she was overqualified. I remember walking into her room, and her breaking down in tears, saying, "Nobody wants me, Mommy. Zach didn't want to marry me, no PA schools thought I was good enough, and nobody will give me a job." It was a heart-breaking moment for me, seeing that God had allowed Hannah to sink to the bottom of a very empty barrel.
I had scheduled an appointment for her with my ENT, Dr. Standring, because she's had a chronically runny nose for most of her life. I figured since she was going to be living at home, we could try and take care of it. She went in, explaining to him who she was by telling him who her parents were (both of us are patients of Dr. Standring). He asked her what she was doing home, and she told him she was looking for a job as a medical assistant. He stopped what he was doing, looked at her and said, "Do you want to work here?"
We were scheduled to leave for Texas the next day, so Hannah quickly called the CFO of the company, for whom Dr. Standring had given her the number. The "guy", Steve, had already been contacted by Dr. Standring who told him to hire her! She went in for an interview the next day, and Dr. Weingarten, the owner and CEO of the company, came in, told her that he would give her all the experience she needs to get into PA school, she would go to PA school, and then come back and work as their PA. She was dumbfounded, but accepted their offer. Steve asked her when she would be landing in Texas so he could call with details. They did tell her that they would be low-balling her because of her lack of credentialing, but not because they didn't believe in her--they just couldn't have it get around that she was making more than those with credentials.
Steve called the next day, offering her $14/hour with full benefits, including paid time off. After three months, they would evaluate her work and decide if she deserved a raise. Also, her training would go until July when the two new ENTs arrived, and she would be assigned to one of them. She accepted (again) and told them when she would be back to start work.
Two months later, they pulled Johannah into a back office, told her she was an ideal worker and moved her pay up to $14.50 an hour. She was thrilled!
Then, three weeks ago, the office manager asked to speak to her. The medical assistant for Dr. Weingarten, the man who owns the practice, had up and quit for a different job and wouldn't even be giving him two weeks' notice. They wanted to know if Hannah would take the job! Without hesitation, she said yes! I mean, the chance to work one-on-one with the doctor who pulls the most weight and who can write her an amazing recommendation? After a day or two, she was told that she would be paid $16.50 an hour! Really, she could work forever at this job (and they've told her that she has a job there as long as they can keep her...even though they know she has bigger and better things to do) and support herself at that pay!
And then last week, Dr. Weingarten walked up to her with an envelope and said, "This is for you." And then he handed her another envelope and said, "We're appreciative of all that you employees have done, sticking with us through COVID." Yeah, that second envelope? $100 that everyone received. But the first envelope? A check (from a different account with no tax/social security deductions) for $500!
The best part is that Hannah comes home from very long days at work so happy. I would think she would be cranky and tired, but no, she never complains about leaving at 6:45, or about driving all over Metro-Detroit, or getting in 10,000 steps just doing her job. She loves it, and she is learning so much. In fact, when John had a bloody nose on our CA trip, Hannah could tell him exactly what he needed to do to get it to stop ;-) Not to mention the treatment that Dr. Standring gave her for her own nose issues has left her sniff- and Kleenex-free which is a HUGE relief for her.
Fast forward to Glo. Glo doesn't work during the school year, because it's just too darn difficult being a music major. Rehearsals, practicing and performances get randomly scheduled during afternoons and evenings, making it a mess for a regular job. So, Glo spends the summer working and saving money for the following year. She knew she wanted to come back to Michigan, because 1) she hates living in Utah, 2) she loves being home with us, and 3) she knew she could make a bunch more money here than she could in Utah. Glo likes to work at places that give her some kind of experience (she can now cut vegetables like nobody's business after working at a salad restaurant ;-)), so she started sending in applications for different fast-casual restaurants around here, and at "Stemville", a Chuck E. Cheese type place with STEM activities. Turns out, with people not returning to work yet after COVID, everybody wanted to hire her. They all told her to get in contact with them when she got home...which she promptly did. She was thinking that she would like to work part-time at two different places, because she likes variety and "didn't want to to be doing the same thing everyday". She was trying to figure out what schedule would work best between Qdoba, Stemville, Great Harvest Bread Company, and Five Guys. Yes, Five Guys. The Kennedy child who doesn't like hamburgers was applying to Five Guys. Well, we left for California, but the Five Guys guy said he wanted her to start work the day after she got home. She figured she would start there and figure out things afterwards. Plus, she was low on cash, so she wanted a pay check. The starting pay was $13/hour which to Glo was like GOLD!
After a day and a half of working there, the manager called her into the office and point blank asked her what he needed to pay her to work there full-time. He said, "How about $14 an hour?" She hemmed and hawed and told him that she still needed to look at the other jobs, at which point he interrupted her, and said, "How about $15 an hour?" She smiled at him, and said, "Done."
So Glo is working full time at Five Guys for $15 an hour. The only caveat he had was that she can't tell anyone else what she is being paid. To our surprise, she actually likes the work, although there isn't much opportunity to make real friends. The older people swear like sailors, smoke weed and party on the weekends, and the "minors" (the people she prefers being around) are, well, still in high-school. Nevertheless, she really likes the job, she's making bank, and people like her. In fact, people are requesting her on their shifts because she works so hard. A funny side: her manager is an inactive member of the church, and Glo can sense that he's very protective of her and her goodness...despite not liking the church himself ;-)
So as sad as it is to pack Hannah's lunch everyday and send her off in the wee hours of the morning, and as much as I miss having Glo home during the day to eat tuna fish sandwiches and watch Big, Little Lies, and as frustrating as it is to try and coordinate the schedules of three very busy people when I want to have fun, and as *kinda* lonely as it is to hang out in the pool by myself in the afternoons, I'm very thankful everyone is making money. Especially my Sugah Daddy who gives me the life we ALL enjoy ;-)
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