My First Day of Selling Timeshares!

       I rushed off to work with plenty of time to get there on my first day. If I missed any days of the two week training, I was automatically let go from my new employer. The first day of my job also happened to be the first day of school at Texas State University. As I was driving past a large line of traffic that was in the right turn only lane, that was filled with students trying to make it to class, a front bumper emerged from between the line of cars. My line of sight was blocked and I never saw the car trying to exit the parking lot until it was too late. It hit me in the back quarter of my car sending my car into a fish-tail on a wet road from the morning rain. The front of my car slammed into a Dodge Challenger that was waiting in traffic and after spinning another 180 degrees, ended up on the sidewalk above the San Marcos River. Needless to say, I was late to work that day, but lucky my car was good enough to drive so I made it!

       After two weeks of training and memorizing an 18-page script word for word, I was placed on the sales floor to accept tours. I was nervous but excited to start selling a program that I truly believed would benefit people who wanted to vacation with their friends and families. It didn't take long though, before I realized this job wasn't going to be for me. I wasn't getting nearly the amount of tours that were promised to me and I was getting called out some days because they knew I would not be receiving a tour that day. I grew disheartened after most of my tours ended in arguments and I was quickly going broke. I quit just 5 weeks after I started and went back to the restaurant so that I had enough money for rent. I found out later on though, that right after I quit, they laid off most of my coworkers anyways. They went from 32 employees down to only 4, so clearly I wasn't the only one struggling.

       I felt a bit defeated going back to the restaurant, but I knew I could at least get by if I worked there. I spent most of my weeks working doubles and grinding out money just to pay my rent and eat. I knew I had to make a change if I was ever going to get ahead in life. So as I laid in my bed, with the roaches crawling all around my apartment, I decided that my best option was to move back home with my family who missed me and live under their roof rent free so I could pack rat my money. I packed up my stuff when my lease ended and drove the more than 2000 miles back to Massachusetts with a game plan. 

       I arrived back home 11 months after leaving, but I was on a mission. I thought that getting into a trade school would be a great way to make a living. I considered all the different trades there are and remembered that I was pretty good at welding in high school. I figured that if I learned a valuable skill like welding, I would be able to make a living almost anywhere and that I wouldn't be tethered to just one location. Plus, I wouldn't have to go back to a college and waste my time and money taking a bunch of elective classes. I enrolled in classes and landed a job working the front desk at a Sheraton hotel. I learned a lot during my brief time enrolled in those welding classes. The most important lessons I learned were not from the books, but from the welding labs themselves. 

       As I welded bead after bead on a metal plate only to get another blank plate and practice the same welds hour after hour, I was realizing that even though I was pretty decent at welding, it was not going to be the best use of my skills. It was so boring just sitting in that welding booth alone with the molten metal bits flying and burning me periodically from the welds I was laying down. I lost interest very quickly and stopped showing up to the classes. I just focused on working at the Sheraton and saving money towards a down payment on a house. Having a house of my own seemed like such a pipe dream to me since I couldn't find a job aside from serving to hold my interest for more than a year. Once again, I was at a crossroads after my quest of becoming a tradesman didn't pan out like i had hoped...