See You Again

I work at a hotel in my hometown at the front desk, and this summer has been rough. I started the job at the tail-end of last summer and come back on some weekends and over breaks during the school year. I am the only part-time worker, which means I am the first call if someone calls in sick or does not show up for any other reason. I knew I would have some hours this summer since a lot of my coworkers wanted some vacation time and there would be a few busy spots here and there. Since I'm living off campus this year, I didn't bother starting the process of looking for another summer job. I need the rent money. That's what I repeated to myself every time I woke up to a 6 am phone call and suited up in slacks and a button down shirt and made my way downtown.
I worked full-time hours last summer for 6 weeks, but this summer my hours varied depending on our capacity and other workers' days off. I could either work five and a half days in a row or go three weeks and only work three days. This made budgeting for myself a difficult endeavor, and mixing in my general high anxiety levels, this job has had me on edge. If you have ever worked in a hotel, then you've probably had the pleasure of experiencing the slew of daily complaints and comped rooms and angry elderly business men complaining they are in need of a free breakfast. In addition to maintenance and restaurant issues, our management company changed right in the middle of the summer. This meant new bosses, new way of doing day to day operations, and a whole lot of cash flow issues for the hotel. To cap it off, three people, including two managers and another front desk person, gave their two weeks at the same time. I was about to quit myself, but my mom convinced (aka guilt-tripped) me into staying until the end of the summer. I would be working more consistently and getting more hours in. Yay for the increase of my paycheck, but those paychecks were covered in tears of exhaustion.
I am not always the most positive person and I whine about silly things more often than I care to admit, but my attitude and temperament have been severely affected since I began this job. My coworkers would give up before their day began and I got yelled at regularly for things that were not my fault. On my off days, I woke up out of habit at 5:30 and stayed awake until after 7, just waiting to see if a coworker needed a shift covered. It also took a toll on my body, because for 7.5 hours I would stand in one spot. My arthritic knees and ankles became weak and weary, and even on my days off, they had trouble recuperating in time for my next shift.
I know I am lucky. I know having a job is a privilege and many people are out searching for one and come up empty. College is supposed to be a time for crappy jobs and little money, right? If only someone would have emphasized how often you would have to choose between paying rent and saving your sanity.
Outside of the circus that is my workplace, my summer was pretty underwhelming. My days off included me, my bed, and Netflix, and sometimes F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some weeknights I would hang out with friends who go to different collages and my weekends were normally spent with my fiance and his family.

During finals week of spring semester, I liked to fantasize my summer filled with crazy adventures and spending day after day in the sun soaking up that Vitamin D and reading all the books my little heart can take. And then May rolled around and all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep for another hour. When I would see people on my Facebook and Instagram feed off in California for the summer or taking vacations in Florida, I got incredibly envious. I wished I was anywhere but Missouri.
But then I remember the time I spent with my friends, and beaches become superfluous.  My friends and I are not party going people, but mostly the kind people who sit around until 4 am talking. The length at which we can talk about nothing continues to amaze me, but we also get into very real conversations that deal with serious topics. We play ridiculous card games that temporarily make us enemies and watch old Disney movies until sunlight sneaks up on us. We take midnight Walmart runs to get ice cream and look at throw pillows. The nights turned morning with these people were the highlights of my summer.

On more than one occasion, the song "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa came on the radio while I was with friends. As I am not into rap much, I only knew the lyrics to the chorus.

"It's been a long day without you, my friend

And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

We've come a long way from where we began

Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

See you again"

All of us are in different cities now that the school year has begun and not seeing those crazy, silly, lovable weirdos gets me down sometimes. I am not finished with obstacles this year nor do I expect to go breakdown-free in the coming months of my junior year of college. Although the overall theme of this song does not coincide with how I feel being away from friends and my fiance, the chorus still resonates with me after a day of classes and homework.