*Warning: This post contains spoilers for the first episode in season 2 of Orange is the New Black in the last two paragraphs*
Well, today is my last day home in good ole Winchendon, Massachusetts before I leave for two months to Chicago, IL to intern for the Interfaith Workers Justice Union. There are a lot of emotions that I am dealing with as I am spending the majority of it at my last day of the first job I started working at when I was 16. Most people would think after 5 years at a minimum wage paying ice cream scooping job that I would be absolutely relieved “to get out of that place” but it is actually the absolute opposite. I am extremely sad and emotional to be leaving my ice cream scooping and NO its only for all the free ice cream that I have had the privilege to consume but for the mere fact that I have learned some of the greatest skills, life lesson, and have met some of the nicest people at this job. It is hard to leave something that has given you more than what you expected in the short five years you have experienced it; especially when you know you will never have another experience like it again.
I worked at a Farm and Dairy Bar that actually celebrates their 50th anniversary this month. Yeah, that’s not a typo, 50th anniversary. I also work for two incredibly hard working people who happen to be husband and wife. And for the last 5 decades they have been apart of a legacy that is unlike any other. Based on a lot of hard work, diligence and effort, they have managed to play a huge role in the lives of many, as it is large part of people’s childhood memories or family traditions. The act of simply coming to farm to get an ice cream or frappe seems so small, yet means so much for the people of Winchendon and the surrounding area. This was something that fascinated me over the years of working at the dairy bar: all the people who had moved on with their lives outside of Winchendon, making their obligatory stop at the dairy bar before they headed back to their new lives. They never failed to stop to get their fix and while they established themselves outside of Winchendon, the things that would bring them back were usually family and this ice cream. It takes a lot of work and effort to create something that is so essential to someone’s life and I am proud to be apart of this legacy. Everyone hates his or her first job; I loved mine. It is sad to leave after 5 years but up until a few days ago, I now feel that I am walking into a destiny on my new journey.
Forgive me advance, but I am one of those people who believe in signs, fate and serendipity and I know how stupid all of these things can be but whatever. I am also a bit neurotic, so naturally I think the universe is always trying to tell me something when it probably is not. But recently, the latest season of my favorite Netflix series, Orange is the New Black became available and as a professional binge Netflix watcher I watched the first episode early in the morning on Friday excited to see where Piper’s prison journey was headed. As noted before, you can assume how full of myself I felt when after a long days journey, Piper founds out she is being transferred to Chicago. (Side note: If I ended up in prison, I would be Piper, through and through. She is my OITHNB spirit animal. And no, I have not taken a Buzz Feed quiz to find this out) I know what you are thinking, “Kara, the writers could have chosen ANY city, there really is no way of justifying the universe is telling you something.” But it gets better, as they plane descends in Chicago, the song that plays in the episode is Andrew Bird’s “Pulaski at Night.” A song, I gloriously heard live in April when I crashed Brown University’s Spring Weekend Concert… I was also standing right in front of the stage, no big deal. But wait, how do these two elements together count as “my sign”? Well, Piper leaves “the shoe” and gets into a bus that is then going to an airport, during the WHOLE time there is absolutely no hint or indication of where she is going. This was actually the atmosphere of my application process of being placed with IWJ. And honestly, while I have been told I am working in the communications department and doing public policy research, I have no idea what to expect out of IWJ. And just like Piper being in Chicago, my time at IWJ may feel long at first as I get adjusted to intern life but will be quick and short before I head back to another type of reality. One verse in Andrew Bird’s, “Pulaski at Night” reads:
“Half empty, half full
Cup runneth over
Horns aplenty
Coffers full
We’re starting over”
While I conclude a very enriching experience of working at Murdock Farm Dairy Bar in my hometown of Winchendon, my time has really run its course there. It’s time start over and I look forward to seeing what Chicago brings.
Well, today is my last day home in good ole Winchendon, Massachusetts before I leave for two months to Chicago, IL to intern for the Interfaith Workers Justice Union. There are a lot of emotions that I am dealing with as I am spending the majority of it at my last day of the first job I started working at when I was 16. Most people would think after 5 years at a minimum wage paying ice cream scooping job that I would be absolutely relieved “to get out of that place” but it is actually the absolute opposite. I am extremely sad and emotional to be leaving my ice cream scooping and NO its only for all the free ice cream that I have had the privilege to consume but for the mere fact that I have learned some of the greatest skills, life lesson, and have met some of the nicest people at this job. It is hard to leave something that has given you more than what you expected in the short five years you have experienced it; especially when you know you will never have another experience like it again.
I worked at a Farm and Dairy Bar that actually celebrates their 50th anniversary this month. Yeah, that’s not a typo, 50th anniversary. I also work for two incredibly hard working people who happen to be husband and wife. And for the last 5 decades they have been apart of a legacy that is unlike any other. Based on a lot of hard work, diligence and effort, they have managed to play a huge role in the lives of many, as it is large part of people’s childhood memories or family traditions. The act of simply coming to farm to get an ice cream or frappe seems so small, yet means so much for the people of Winchendon and the surrounding area. This was something that fascinated me over the years of working at the dairy bar: all the people who had moved on with their lives outside of Winchendon, making their obligatory stop at the dairy bar before they headed back to their new lives. They never failed to stop to get their fix and while they established themselves outside of Winchendon, the things that would bring them back were usually family and this ice cream. It takes a lot of work and effort to create something that is so essential to someone’s life and I am proud to be apart of this legacy. Everyone hates his or her first job; I loved mine. It is sad to leave after 5 years but up until a few days ago, I now feel that I am walking into a destiny on my new journey.
Forgive me advance, but I am one of those people who believe in signs, fate and serendipity and I know how stupid all of these things can be but whatever. I am also a bit neurotic, so naturally I think the universe is always trying to tell me something when it probably is not. But recently, the latest season of my favorite Netflix series, Orange is the New Black became available and as a professional binge Netflix watcher I watched the first episode early in the morning on Friday excited to see where Piper’s prison journey was headed. As noted before, you can assume how full of myself I felt when after a long days journey, Piper founds out she is being transferred to Chicago. (Side note: If I ended up in prison, I would be Piper, through and through. She is my OITHNB spirit animal. And no, I have not taken a Buzz Feed quiz to find this out) I know what you are thinking, “Kara, the writers could have chosen ANY city, there really is no way of justifying the universe is telling you something.” But it gets better, as they plane descends in Chicago, the song that plays in the episode is Andrew Bird’s “Pulaski at Night.” A song, I gloriously heard live in April when I crashed Brown University’s Spring Weekend Concert… I was also standing right in front of the stage, no big deal. But wait, how do these two elements together count as “my sign”? Well, Piper leaves “the shoe” and gets into a bus that is then going to an airport, during the WHOLE time there is absolutely no hint or indication of where she is going. This was actually the atmosphere of my application process of being placed with IWJ. And honestly, while I have been told I am working in the communications department and doing public policy research, I have no idea what to expect out of IWJ. And just like Piper being in Chicago, my time at IWJ may feel long at first as I get adjusted to intern life but will be quick and short before I head back to another type of reality. One verse in Andrew Bird’s, “Pulaski at Night” reads:
“Half empty, half full
Cup runneth over
Horns aplenty
Coffers full
We’re starting over”
While I conclude a very enriching experience of working at Murdock Farm Dairy Bar in my hometown of Winchendon, my time has really run its course there. It’s time start over and I look forward to seeing what Chicago brings.