Last night, I had an extremely stressful dream which involved a job search, among other things.  My lack of money had forced me to move into a spare room above a computer store.   I was walking around in the store, customers kept asking me questions.  I continually had to tell them that I didn’t work there.

I had to go upstairs at one point to check on the status of a resumé I had sent out, and I kept getting interrupted by ridiculous questions.  Finally, I decided that I might as well work there, since I was there all the time anyway.  I went upstairs to change into some nicer clothes, and came down to find the store completely empty.  The guy behind the counter and I were talking about a girl with a guitar case who was waiting at the bus stop outside the window, and he kept making comments like, “She can come to this stop any time, heh heh.”  I pretended to laugh, then walked back upstairs to check my e-mail.

I’d gotten a response to my resume, in the form of a bunch of YouTube links with a note that said, “Watch these videos, and you’ll learn the correct way to apply for a job.”  I didn’t get a chance to read it, however, because the store was suddenly extremely busy, with people even milling around outside my room.  I went out and started my first official shift at the store.

It was crazy.  The people I worked with were a bunch of maladjusted teenagers, with the exception of the manager, who was an alien (yeah, I don’t know why either) and could keep watch over all aspects of the store at once.  He had a way of flitting up behind me and making a comment any time I stopped to take a breath, so I got into the habit of constantly moving around the store.  People asked me questions, and I would say, “It’s my first day; let me go find someone who can answer that question,” and that would propel me on another trip, looking for one of my co-workers, who I also didn’t know, and could barely differentiate between them and the customers.

The manager saw me doing this, and suddenly appeared behind me to say, “You’re circling.”  He sighed exasperatedly.  “See those white things on the floor?”  He pointed to some pieces of paper and litter.  “Why don’t you just go around the store and pick those up.”

“Is there some sort of bag I could put that stuff in?” I replied.  “I don’t really want to touch it and carry it around.”

He disappeared, and instantly appeared with a small white bag like the ones French fries are served in.  He handed it over.

“I don’t think that’ll be big enough, but I’ll give it a try,” I said, suddenly feeling very deflated.  I took the bag and half-heartedly looked around, but I didn’t bother to pick anything up.  I stood there, unable to believe that this was what my life had become.  “I’m thirty-eight years old, I’m working retail with a bunch of nineteen-year-olds, and I don’t even know when I get my first break.”  My stomach rumbled.

I woke up, feeling anxious and not at all rested.  I hate job hunting.  Hateithateithateithateit.