Chapter 7: Golden Job, Golden Ticket
Sometime around the first of October, when the last of the magical cicadas had expired and the trees were once again quiet, I realized I should probably get a job. Mattie already had a job, working in his parents’ barbeque restaurant. That was the deal in his family: There was an understanding that if they worked in the family restaurant, Mattie’s parents would pay for all their kids to go to college, but only if that college was KU. Siren was still working at Bazongas several days a week, sometimes in the afternoon, and when she was lucky, the dinner shift, since she always brought home more tips. But on those nights, she had to help close the restaurant and she didn’t get home until after midnight.
I was pretty sure I didn’t want to do restaurant work, and jobs were tight in Lawrence, what with all the college kids. I decided my best bet might be to apply for campus jobs. I was sitting at my desk one afternoon on the campus jobs website when my dad called and asked what I was up to. I told him I was applying for jobs at the Natural History Museum, the library and the visitor center.
“Job website?” he said. “Ha! Back in my day, you had to actually walk to the building you wanted to work in and fill out an application. Bunch of spoiled pansies is what you kids are.”
