At some point in time everyone has to get a job, their first job. It’s different for everyone. You’re either nervous, scared, or excited. You either hate it or you love it. For me it was both because I loved that I was going to get money but hated that it was a JOB. What made it all better was knowing how good it was going to feel getting that first check. So as the week went on that first friday came a long and sure enough I got my check personally delivered to me.
I already had planned out in my head exactly what I was going to buy with it. First I was going to buy Xbox Live because I had promised my cousin I would. Then I thought of the stores I was going to visit since I planned on buying myself some clothes, I mean I worked all week I think I deserved it. By the end of the day I should have had enough money to fill up the gas tank because I was running on E and I had to drive to work and school the next week. Seems pretty thought out right? That’s not how it actually went down.
Friday was the day I got my check so I headed to the bank straight out of work. I was excited and I walked in smiling. I think the personal banker could tell because she greeted me with as much excitement and asked how she could help me. I asked to deposit my check into my account. Depositing it meant I would have to wait one business day before the money became available to me. This meant I had to wait until Saturday to spend my well earned money. What was one day? I would just go home and relax and Saturday would be the day.
I had already asked my friend Fabiola to go along for the shopping spree so the next morning we headed off to The Oaks Mall. We got there in the afternoon since we both take our time getting ready just to get pretty much anywhere. I should have gone to buy Xbox Live first to get it out of the way but we decided to hit one of our favorite stores first, Zumiez. Once there I bought a shirt and since I didn’t find anything else I liked, so I figured I’d just look at other stores. The next store was Beach Works, the store that hit the wallet hard. As I looked around and perused the various shirts I happened to find two more that I liked. That was it, I thought to myself I was done and I could spend the rest of the day just walking around hanging out at the mall. I was wrong.
Before I decided to pay I waited for Fabiola to finish her shopping so we could go to the register at the same time. While she was looking she found a sweater she thought I might like. At first glance I wasn’t interested especially since I decided I wasn’t going to spend any more money since I still had other things to pay for like gas and Xbox Live. She insisted I at least try it on to see if I’d like it after I actually saw it on me. So there I go, and to my surprise I loved it! This made the upcoming decision hard. Should I buy it and have no money left over or not buy it and wonder what if? I turned to Fabiola since she’s the one who brought the sweater to my attention. She looked at me like hurry up and decide. I looked at her and then back at the reflection of my spiffy self with the sweater on. It’s was a done deal, I was getting it. As I payed it hurt a little to give the cashier my debit card. I walked out of that store feeling good but that feeling was soon going to disappear.
I realized I still had to buy Xbox Live so I went to nearest Gamestop to get that out of the way. As I left the store I decided to check the balance on my account to make sure I would have enough for gas. $11.53 was what was left. I was supposed to fill my empty gas tank with $11.53 because I had work and school the next week. Driving back home I tried not thinking about how much money I had left but on the fact that I got clothes. I also avoided thinking about the fact that my parents were going to freak when they found out I had spent pretty much my whole check.
The next morning my brother Elvis came over and wanted everyone to go to breakfast especially me since he was glad that no one else had to pay for me anymore. I didn’t want him to know exactly how much money I had left so I tried playing it off like I didn’t feel like going out because I was tired. Since that didn’t work I finally confessed that I had no money left to go anywhere since the rest of the money I had left had to go towards gas money. He made fun of me but understood, and he said he had anticipated me spending my whole first check because it was like getting a little taste of freedom. He offered to pay for breakfast one last time because he knew I couldn’t afford it.
Later that day I was trying to decide what time I would go to the bank to withdraw the 11 dollars I had to go and “fill up” my tank. The more I thought about it the more I felt bad because I knew I was going to have to ask for money for gas. So much for getting a job to be independent and not relying on my parents anymore. Going to my mom for help seemed more reasonable than my dad because my dad can have a temper when hearing things he doesn’t like. I asked my mom if I could borrow her car for the week instead of asking for money and she figured out very quickly that I had spent all the money I had earned. Hesitant at first, she told me I could borrow it if I really needed it. Little did I know that she would go and tell my dad about our conversation.
That afternoon my dad walked in in a really bad mood. He handed me a gas card and told me to go fill up my tank. Confused I looked at him wondering how he knew. He didn’t explain how he found out. He simply explained that this was the last time he was going to fill up my tank and that next pay check gas is the first thing I should take care of. I felt glad about my gas situation, but I felt guilty for not having more self control at the mall.
The lesson of the story was having a job and getting paid doesn’t make you independent and responsible. What makes you those things is knowing how to manage the money you earn. I got caught up in the excitement of having money and being able to buy whatever I want simply because it was my money to spend. The reason for me getting a job was so that I could stop taking from my parents. That’s the exact opposite of what actually happened, in the end I still needed my parents help. Driving back from filling up my tank with my dad’s gas card I thought to myself, “next time it’s going to be different.” This time it will be different because I realized I need to learn to manage money now so later in the future when I won’t have my parents to fall back on, I can stand on my own.
