Lesson Learned

The next thing Olivia knew, she was waking up in the hospital. Her mom and dad were both there.

“You took a nasty fall,” her dad said.

“Am I okay?”

“Yes,” her mom said tentatively.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia demanded. She had not yet realized she was wearing a cast on her right arm.

“You are fine. And we are thankful all you have is a broken arm and . . . .”

Olivia looked down and in horror exclaimed, “I have a broken arm!”

“Yes, we know. When you fell, you must have tried to catch yourself. You were just too high off the ground.”

“How did you know?”

“We didn’t. At 9:00, when you weren’t home, we tried to call your cell—no answer. We didn’t know your new boss’s name or how to contact her, so Dad drove to the store. He found the back door open with inventory on the curb,” her mom explained.

“I have to tell you,” her dad said, choking back the tears, “I’ve never been as scared in my life as when I was running up those back steps calling your name. Then, when I found you lying there, . . . .” He began to cry. “I thought you were dead.”

“Dad called 911 and here you are.”

“What’s next?”

“They want to keep you for a day or two for observation.”

“Did you call my boss?” Olivia asked.

“No, I’m going to see her later today and share a few thoughts with her before I offer your resignation,” her dad said.

“I guess that was the shortest summer job ever.”

The next time the kids gathered at Clint’s house, he was thrilled they all finally had summer jobs—except Olivia, who had “resigned.” Everyone greeted her with a hug.

“We’re so glad you’re okay,” Alex said. The others nodded in agreement. Then, no one appeared to know what to say next.

“Okay,” Clint broke the silence, “what’s up with your jobs?”

“I quit,” Tyler said.

“What?” Alex said. “You just started!”

“I know. My dad always says if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. The promise of free doughnuts plus $2.00 above minimum wage—I should have smelled a rat.”

“What happened?” Olivia asked.

“Well, you remember the owner told me he was a jerk.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to bring that up again,” Clint said with a smile.

“Okay, I know, I know. As it turns out, he is more of a jerk when he’s been drinking. He was literally throwing things in the kitchen. It was crazy!”

“Okay. Olivia’s dad forced her into involuntary retirement, and you quit. Alex?”

“I’m okay. Only had a couple of shifts under my belt, but I think we’re good.”

“Tyler, I may have an idea for you,” Clint offered. “I don’t want to speak too soon, but I may have found the perfect job.”

“Tell us more about this ‘perfect job,’” Olivia said, skeptically.

Clint told them about his group interview and meeting with Julie.

“It sounds super!” Tyler said. “Why wouldn’t I apply tomorrow?”

“It goes back to something you said earlier about sounding too good to be true. I don’t want you to follow me if this turns out to be a sham. However, I think it’s legit.”

“What makes you say that?” Alex asked.

“When Julie heard about our well project, she promised us $500!

“Get out of town!” Alex said. “There’s no way this woman, Julie, who you just met, is going to stroke you a check for $500.”

“She said I could pick it up at orientation,” Clint said.

“We’ll see,” Tyler smirked.

“One more thing,” Clint said. “My conversation with Julie made me realize what I’ve been trying to say the last few meetings. Julie is creating something I want to be part of—even if just for the summer.”

“And that is . . . ?” Alex asked.

“A Bigger Vision.”

“That’s it! That should definitely be on our list going forward,” Olivia insisted.

“Hold on—just slow down.” Tyler was struggling again. “I think I understand what a Better Boss would look like, although I’ve only had one boss—for about two hours. And, I can imagine a lot of good things when we talk about a Brighter Future; but honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about when you say Bigger Vision.”

“I get it,” Olivia said. “Let me try.” She turned to look directly at Tyler. “Okay, I’ll make this as simple as possible. I agree with Clint: I don’t want just a job, and I don’t think any of us do.”

“We don’t?” Tyler asked.

“No! We want to make a difference,” Olivia said.

Alex jumped in, “And, I don’t know about you guys, but I want the company I work for to make a difference, too.”

“Now that you mention it, that is one of the things that attracted me to the coffee shop. I didn’t know how to describe it, but I thought it was cool they were working to make the world a better place,” Alex said.

“That sounds really good to me, too,” Tyler said. “I just never thought about it like that.”

Alex looked at Clint. “So, back to this ‘perfect job.’”

“Julie certainly wants to make money, but she also has a Bigger Vision; that’s why she wants to help with the well,” Clint said.

“What’s next?” Olivia asked.

“Tyler, if this turns out to be for real, I’ll put in a good word for you. Let me check it out first.”

“You can put in a good word for me, too,” Olivia added. “I don’t think my dad is going to keep me on lock-down forever. He said he thought I was dead when he found me.” She paused, “So I’m not going to ask for permission to work anywhere for a few weeks.”

“Anything else, before we go back into the real world?” Clint asked with a smile.

“I’ve been thinking about our demands, and we missed something on the list,” Olivia said.

“We did?” Alex asked.

“I think we need to add the basics.”

“What does that mean?” Tyler asked.

“The basic stuff every job should offer,” Olivia said, “like a safe place to work.”

No one was going to argue with her.

“Anything else we consider a basic?”

“A fair wage, basic training,” Alex said. “And to be treated like a human being.”

“And not have things thrown at you by a drunk,” Tyler added.

“You wouldn’t think you’d have to think about these when looking for a job, but it looks like you do,” Olivia said.