Every day I think I fall more in love with the handsome man I married. This last week has been a special one because of many things, including our first attempt at "parenting" as a team, a day to celebrate love, sunshine filling the air and melting all the icky brown snow, and me starting my job at McDonalds which has given me a HUGE understanding of what Aaron does every day. I appreciate him SO much more today than I did before my first shift making french fries.
On Monday Aaron and I got to work as a team as we babysat eleven kids and twenty teens at our church so that their parents could go out for a special Valentine's evening. While I'm sure we blessed the parents of our church, I myself was blessed by watching Aaron play with little ones and try to keep them entertained for three hours. My husband is extremely good at everything I'm not, and that's why I'm so thankful that God made us a team. He kept those kids moving! That man has a never-ending supply of group games to play, while I can't think of even one game that works with such a variety of ages. What I am good at, though, is holding the little ones, planning crafts, and cleaning up vomit when a 2-year-old started violently throwing up at the end of the night. We're both super-organized, probably overly so for BFC, but in the end, it all went smoothly and we were able to get some time together at IHOP after the dinner rush had gone, so we got our Valentine's Day together after all.
On Thursday I started my new job at McDonald's. Don't let anyone fool you when they say they "just work for minimum wage". Just because flipping burgers and making fries doesn't pay very well, that doesn't mean it's easy work. During lunch at the Drake McDonald's, you can't make fries fast enough to get them out the drive-through window. Especially not when it's your first day on the job. Thursday I learned to make McCafé drinks and fries and today I got to take orders. It really helps me understand how hard Aaron works and gives me much more sympathy when he gets home tired and just wants to sit and stare at a computer screen.
Also, my new job at McDonald's has started to develop in me a moral position for my own life on the importance of working in a low-paying environment. Although my plan for my life includes a PhD, I think I must at this point realize how important it is for me to work at least part time at a fast food restaurant or such. For one thing, the people who I am studying and hope to be serving can only be found in such places. There is no one on earth like the hard-working immigrants that work the line at McDonald's. When I'm studying literature, I have to realize where the feelings of oppression and the undying strength and joy of the Latin American people come from. When I'm teaching grammar, I have to know how it's actually spoken by those yelling out orders to their co-workers. Language is not a sterile thing that you can learn in a classroom. Therefore, even though it doesn't pay much, it's really hard work, and in the long run most people would think that a job at McDonald's is far below my education level or capability, I hope that through the next few years I will continue to seek employment in the places where I can come in contact with real people. Academia is one part of what I'm learning, but if I ever want to be qualified to teach others how to love and serve the Hispanic community, either here or abroad, I have to spend as much time practicing what I'm learning, and the only way to do that is by being there and experiencing the long hours and low pay that Christina, Elvia, Mayra, and Enrique (all my new coworkers) experience every day.
All that to say, I'm glad for my new job, and I'm learning a lot. I'm thankful for the wonderful man I get to spend all my hours off with. And I'm more joyful than ever because the sun in shining and in about a half-hour I get to pick up my little brother from the bus stop for his weekend visit. :D I can hardly wait!
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