Between a Rock and a Hard Case

The Story of My First IT Job... (A True Story, names have been changed to protect the naive)


Rating: R Caution: the use of wildly Religious language is expected.

Have you ever wanted something really badly? I have.

I wanted to change careers. I was working with my dad at the time and my love of my dad and desire to hang around him had kept me in a job that rarely challenged my synapses.

I prayed every night that something would open up, some opportunity would come to me with such wild promise that I couldn't begin to say "no." To use the words "fervently" and "earnestly" regarding my prayers to a God who had shown me he could do stuff like that...yeah, understatement.

Mrs. Mynd was grinding out her days doing home daycare and for those of you who take on this perilous and mostly unrewarding job, I salute you. You only have to watch one child for a while to realize that you are the 8 to 10 hour a day caregiver for a child, and you make less than someone who routinely asks "want fries with that?" for the pleasure of this job. It is only through opening your house up for 10-12 hours watching many crying little people does the money begin to really roll in. You can't ever take vacation and spend any of that money, but what's relaxation among friends.

I digress.

One fine spring day, a man came over to interview my wife for daycare for his daughter. We shall call him Jim. Jim spent a good bit of time discussing details of daycare with my wife. I happened to be home at the time, likely from an early finish time on a job. I followed them around a bit and conversation turned to what he did and what I did for a living. I told him that I worked for my dad and he said he was an IT Director.

Those who have known me for a while would say I was destined for a career in the IT field. I helped my high school create a curriculum for computer science while being a guinea pig for the second of two courses. When I got to college I was always helping my fellow students with their programming homework. My brain has an uncanny ability to read code and understand what the computer will do with it, removing human logic just enough to find the syntax or logic errors.

After overburdening myself one semester in college, I decided that I needed to take a break from the IT degree and I went on without it. I never lost the passion I had and I was always tinkering with something at home. I had been creating databases and programs for my dad's business and always enjoyed fixing all the things he could think to break. We were quite the team.

Anyway, after discussing my passion for computers and the IT field with Jim, he said the words I had prayed to hear...

"I have a job opening in my office that you might be interested in..."

WOOHOOO! Did I mention WOO-HOOOOOO? Imagine me making that whistley noise with the two fingers in my mouth... I can't, but it is amusing to think about watching you think about me trying.

So after that afternoon conversation, I had such great hope for my future. Mrs. Mynd and I discussed this at length and her excitement was a mirror of mine (cause she is super like that) and we immediately set forth to re-write my resume.

FAST FORWARD to interview day. My resume is honest and simple, but awesome at the same time. I figure that I have already talked to the boss, this interview is a formality. I'm super excited for the job offer and have begun practicing my acceptance speech and my "who me, this was unanticipated" face.

Once again, Jim and I discuss the job. I meet his boss. I meet his bosses boss. I remember thinking how well the day was going. At the end of it we shook hands and I left... I was still expecting a call and an offer and the new career that I had asked God to provide.

Remember the "who me, this was unanticipated" face? I started showing that face to God the next day and the days following it for about a week.

I didn't get the job...

Had God failed me?  Had I not been "good enough" or prayed enough?

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to the story...