Everyone remembers their sweet 16 birthday, for this teenager it is absolutely unforgettable. Her mother celebrated her special day by giving her the keys to her very own car. It wasn't brand new but it was brand new to her and she was very thankful for it. But unfortunately, her mother followed it up with the most ridiculous ask of any teenager which was that she must get a job in order to maintain the keys to her car. The audacity! The nerve! What kind of mother is this? In this funny coming of age story this teenager learns the importance of work and how difficult it is to find your first job with no skills. She also realizes that her mother on this specific day was teaching her a very valuable lesson. Sometimes we don't realize that we are being prepared for the next chapter of our lives until we actually start living it.
First Job
For my 16th birthday my mom wrapped a set of car keys in a massive box almost the size of a refrigerator and gave it to me. I unwrapped it not knowing exactly what it was but it was so huge I knew it was gonna be something amazing and it was. I officially was the first person out of my friend group to have a car. Don't get me wrong it was used, had some scrapes and some dings but for the most part the only thing I cared about was that it ran, and it ran well. That day I took my mom for a spin and we had a blast. We got back to the house and she opened her hand and said, “Keys please.” I looked at her with absolute confusion because I didn't exactly know what she wanted with my keys but I gave them to her and she could clearly see the confusion on my face because her response to that was, “Now you know how awesome it is to have a car… but you won’t get this back until you have a job.” I was stunned. Speechless. There were 1000 things running around in my head at that moment but none of those things could I speak out loud to my mother, absolutely not. So, instead the only thing that I could do is exactly what I did which was nod my head in affirmation to let her know that I understood what she was saying as I proceeded to stomp up the stairs and slam my bedroom door.