Every New Beginning Is Some Beginning's End

No more sleeping in until 10:30 in the morning. No more going back to bed after realizing that for a holiday, you’re up shamefully early. No more rummaging through the fridge and eating at odd times. No more chatting with friends for hours. No more spending all day listening to music and lounging around in nightclothes doing practically nothing.

I start work today, in a few hours, and I’m as nervous as could be. Why else would I wake up at this unearthly hour? I can stay up this late without too much trouble, but I am NOT a morning person. Never been this jittery except on the days we had basketball matches in middle school and high school. (Yes, I used to play basketball, and for someone of my height and general level of laziness I was quite good.)

It’s not so different, come to think of it – wake up early in the morning, pace up and down, do some warm-ups in an attempt to calm down, and prove yourself by putting on the best show that you can. Except that now I get to drink coffee instead of/ in addition to milk. And of course, I won’t be running around the office in bicycle shorts.

See? Not cool.

I’d rather not sleep another hour now because I have so much to worry about – what if I wake up late on the first day? How do I handle the possibility of a smelly person sitting next to me on the bus? What happens if I get to the office too early? What if I leave behind something important at home? Do employees get good coffee? Will the lunch break be long enough for me to quickly get some coffee from Gloria Jean’s? How many times a month can I buy coffee from there without going almost broke? What if they moved? (Hey Gloria Jean’s, do I get some coffee on the house in return for the free advertising?)

I know, I know, I write about coffee way too much. It threw me off track. What was I talking about? Ah yes, I was listing out deep, pensive questions that pave the way to finding a quick solution, should the problem arise. It’s a little distressing, dreading all the things that could go wrong. Excuse me while I think of something to cheer myself up a little. Maybe I’ll watch the last few minutes of Surf’s Up.

I’m back. (Why am I pretending this is a live chat? Maybe it’s because I’ve personified this window, so it’s like a dramatic monologue to a patient – if passive – audience.) Anyway, I have to mention how watching the last ten minutes of Surf’s Up before the credits roll – from the beginning of the contest to the beautiful final scene that ends with the awesome song – actually calmed me down. I recommend it to anyone with the jitters, because hey, how can you not be happy when you have cool penguins, an exciting surfing contest, brilliant animation, comic relief, an awesome funky chicken, that New Radicals song, and a perfectly splendid happy ending?

Now that I feel a little better, I’m thinking: They chose me through legitimate selection, so I shouldn’t be worried sick. My only real worry is that I may get thrown out due to the non-surfacing of blinding awesomeness, but I’ll try and make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m good as long as I make it through the probation period, do at least equally well after, and don’t (either during or after this stage) act delinquent.

Here’s to the beginning of my life as a working woman! (Ew, that makes me sound old.) Wish me luck!