Salespeople of the world

I like to say that I’m different, and I think that most other people say that about themselves too. Being different means being unique in this sense. All my siblings have worked in department stores as their first jobs: Sears, Guess, New York and Company, American Eagle, and Gilly Hicks. I’m not a clothes person, to say the least. In fact I don’t really like shopping for clothes, unless I need them, in which case I would consider my time shopping to be a quest. Needless to say, I would not like my first job to be at a department (clothes) store, though I can see why others would like working there. You may like retail and clothes and style and the whole atmosphere there, as well as any discounts to cool clothes. Totally understandable. I’m just saying, that ain’t my thang. I’d want my first job to be in a place that is of interest to me. And that place would be the planetarium.

I’ve had an interest in astronomy ever since I was introduced to the solar system in the third grade. When I was 9 I taped glow-in-the-dark stars and comets on the ceiling of my room and I read the children’s version of Encyclopedia Britannica for the solar system about a hundred times when I was 10. More recently, I took an Intro to Astronomy course as well as a Life in the Universe course in Stony Brook with not too shabby grades. Not to mention, I also want an astronomy poster in my room (Ate Sherry was supposed to get it for my kris kringle present this Christmas but she never did); I need to get rid of some obsolete posters I still have dusting around on the walls of my room. Astronomy has always been somewhat near me through the years.

Therefore, the planetarium is the perfect place for me. I could either be a show presenter, box office person or other that I don’t know yet. I still have not built up the courage to call them – after four days already. Don’t you shame on me! This is my first job, I’m allowed to be nervous at first. I will remedy my courage problem by going to the planetarium in person and asking about their hiring status. I hope I get a job; I do have a fairly confident background in astronomy and I like to believe I’m friendly. Either that or I’m broken.

Speaking of getting jobs, whether that’d be a new one or a first one, the whole ambience of job searching gets me thinking of how we as social human beings, are. Today I told Kuya about my wanting to work in the planetarium and he suggested that I make a resume (I totally forgot about those self-advertisements). The idea of resumes and interviews reminds me of how we have a habit of trying to sell ourselves. Our skills I mean. This is all for the effort of making money – money that will be used for our personal reasons. I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing. It’s a healthful system because it shows yourself and your employer (if you get employed) all the good things about yourself (if you’re not lying), or at least the pertinent skills you carry around. But still, I’m saying, once a salesperson, always a salesperson – and we are all salespeople, proud or desperate.