She thought she might be able to be a
barista
forever. So long as she owned the cafes one day. Making 12 bucks an hour plus tips was just not going to cut it for the rest of her life.
The people and their tips were nice. They meant well, but no matter how much they tipped it didn't change her life. She was still at the end of the day someone in the
service industry
.
Someone who's sole purpose was to make
coffee
for those too lazy to make their own. Or worse, to be the stimulus for someone who had nothing going on in their day. People who went to the cafe to get some entertainment. These types of customers are who she hated the most.
All of this emotion was new however. Until she read on
Facebook
that her high school friend would be soon starting a job at some big shot
blue chip
corp, she had been fine with her job. She was obviously not going to do it forever, but she was fine with where she was at. Living with her dad to save money on rent. Working this job and having a fine time with her coworkers and her favorite customers.
But after seeing where her old friend was headed, suddenly her life no longer seemed barable.
Her friend had spent the past four years at university and now finally had her degree. Finally things were going to pay off. Funny because for awhile it seemed like
college
would never end for her bookish friends. They seemed to be in some endless cycle of exams, homework, and group projects. Such a life she would hear about whenever they'd visit back in town and they would be grabbing coffee or
beer
together. But graduation and white collar jobs. All of that seemed like forever away, never to arrive.
The whole time
Imogen Howe
thought she'd be prepared to cheer her friends on as they began their new chapter.
Butt only once graduation became a reality, Imogen noticed that she was unable to cheer them on. All she felt was utter distaste in how she had spent her last four years. Suddenly all her decisions looked so obviously poor and idiotic. While girls like Sarah Kelley were accepting jobs for 96k a year, she was looking at what? Begging her boss for a $1.50 an hour raise? Pathetic.
Pathetic was a great word to use here. It was a single word that accurately conveyed how she felt. Imogen knew one thing for sure. She didn't want another four years to pass and have her feeling this way again. She had to make a change in her life.
Change, she didn't know exactly how or in what ways, but she knew she had to change her life. This is the reason she said yes when her coworker Mikayla asked her if she'd want to move in with her the upcoming fall.
Up until that point she'd been asked many times by different people to live together. But she always had a fast no ready. Her reason was always her dad. She couldn't leave him alone. She was all he had left in this world and although she never shared it aloud she figured he would kill himself or drink himself sick if she were to ever leave the house.
This time however she was able to just feel the word yes slip from her lips.
Mikayla looked surprised. Someone must've warned her that Imogen had always used her dad as a reason for not moving.
"Yes? Great. I mean you can keep working here you know?
Westcity
is not that far away. It's a good drive."
"No. I will find a new job. I may even go to school."
"Oooohhh wow. that would be amazing. The two of us classmates AND roommates?!?"