Question

Summer Jobs A A A The bell that all of the students had been waiting for rang, and Kristin met Darcy at her locker as they'd arranged. The girls had been waiting and waiting for summer vacation to arrive, and now that it was finally here, they wanted to review their plans once more. The two best friends talked while chaos erupted in the halls around them. "Well, why don't you just get a job someplace in the mall?" asked Darcy for what seemed like the tenth time in the past week. "I keep telling you that it's just not that easy," replied Kristin with exasperation. "I put in an application at almost every store in the mall, but I don't think they're going to hire someone like me with no experience." "But if you don't get a job too, you won't have enough money for our clothes shopping trip at the end of the summer," Darcy whined. "Listen, I'm trying my hardest," said Kristin, "and I'm sure I'll get a job somewhere. We can't all be lucky enough to get jobs in our parents' video store, you know." "That job is going to be hard," protested Darcy. "You try having a job with your parents breathing down your neck all the time. My older brother Joey will be working there, too, and you know what he's like." Kristin scoffed at this inwardly, but didn't say anything. She'd thought about how much she'd love to have a job sitting in a nice air-conditioned video store, older brother or not. Answering customer questions about movies would be a lot like answering trivia questions, which she loved, and when it was slow, she could watch movies on the overhead monitors. Kristin couldn't believe that Darcy was complaining about what would be, to her at least, a dream job. Kristin listened to Darcy's complaints at least ten more times over the weekend that her video store job WOULD be difficult and that Kristin NEEDED to get a job soon if their shopping trip were to be realized. If Darcy wasn't complaining to Kristin in person, she was complaining over the phone. If she wasn't complaining over the phone, she was complaining through text messages or emails. Kristin had come to the conclusion that Darcy really had no grasp of the reality of how difficult it was to get a summer job. She was doubly glad when Sunday rolled around so she could study the employment section of the newspaper, not only because of the money a job would bring, but also because getting a job would make Darcy stop tormenting her. Determination shone in Kristin's eyes as she plucked the employment section from the Sunday paper, grabbed a black marker from the desk, and sat down at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of tea. She was actually quite excited to begin her search and felt like she was engaging in a very mature, adult activity. Kristin's eyes began to flick up and down the help wanted columns of the newspaper, and she uncapped her marker, sure that she would stumble across a suitable listing any second. However, the three magic words, "no experience necessary," were nowhere to be seen. After a few pages without any circling, Kristin capped the pen, not wanting it to dry out from lack of use. Forty-five minutes of frustration later, Kristin had finished circling the ads stating "no experience necessary," "no experience required," or other similar phrases. She flipped back through the paper, hoping that she'd circled more than it seemed she had, but, no, only three ads in eight pages of employment were circled in black ink. Kristin's spirits drooped as the lack of options available to her became apparent. She went back and looked more closely at each of the circled listings and imagined herself in each of the jobs listed. The first job listed was for a paper route. Kristin imagined leisurely bike rides through pleasant neighborhoods and gracefully tossing papers onto the porches of the houses. Unfortunately, the words "early mornings required," in the ad interrupted this fantasy. She then imagined waking up every morning before dawn during the entire summer break to fold and distribute papers. She wouldn't be able to stay out late with that sort of schedule. Kristin wasn't what you'd call a "morning person" and had been looking forward all school year to mornings not heralded by the annoying buzz of an alarm clock. Kristin moved on to the second job that she'd circled, a position for a dishwasher at a local diner. While the paper route initially seemed pleasant enough, she had a hard time seeing any "silver lining" in the "cloud" of the dishwashing job. Kristin had seen the backroom of a restaurant before, and it looked like a hot, noisy, hectic place. She pictured herself slaving away in a steaming, scorching hot kitchen running dishwater over plate after plate until her hands were indistinguishable from a pair of prunes. Doing the dishes at home was her least favorite chore, and there were only four people in her family. The third job listed was for a position in the laundry room at a linen service. This job really didn't seem so bad to Kristin at first. Folding laundry always had a pleasantly calming effect on her, and though she was sure it wouldn't be the most exciting job in the world, there were certainly worse jobs that she could do. However, the very last line of the ad from the linen service made Kristin rethink this opinion. It said, "LinenCo is a locally owned linen company that services linens from the medical and infant communities." Kristen took a minute to think about the implications of "medical and infant communities." She had a vision of hospital bedding and clothing and dirty diapers. Kristen shuddered and wondered whether she could spend her whole summer dealing with dirty diapers. Despite her distaste for all three of the "no experience" jobs that she was able to find in the papers, she supposed she still ought to apply for them. She knew that as a fourteen year old, she'd be lucky to get any sort of summer job, no matter how disgusting. Kristin also knew that if she didn't get a job, then she wouldn't be able to go on her end-of-summer shopping trip, and she'd never hear the end of it from Darcy. So, on Monday, Kristin jumped on her bike and spent the afternoon riding to the newspaper office, the diner, and even to the linen company, dutifully filling out an application at each of these locations and hoping for the best. That evening, Kristin received the expected nightly phone call from Darcy. Just as she was about to tell Darcy how slim the job pickings were, a torrent of complaints erupted from Darcy and slammed into the phone. Kristin had forgotten that today was Darcy's first day at the video store. "I had the MOST horrible day at work," Darcy began. "I had to work for six whole hours with only two breaks. I had to answer stupid questions from customers all day, and my parents made me wear a stupid polo shirt with the store logo on it. Plus, Joey was always on my case telling me what to do. Do this, and shelve that. It was awful." "That's not so bad," offered Kristen as she started to tell Darcy about the poor job prospects she had found. Again, she was interrupted. "It was HORRIBLE," screeched Darcy. "James Henderson came in looking so cute, and when he saw me in that stupid polo shirt, I thought I would just die." Kristin was stunned. How could Darcy be complaining about wearing a polo shirt when Kristin herself might have to work with loads of dirty dishes or dozens and dozens of yucky diapers over the summer vacation? She was about to say something, but Darcy kept going. "So I quit!" Darcy exclaimed. "I'm going to get one of those cool jobs at the mall that I keep telling you about." Kristin couldn't believe her ears. Her friend had just quit a great summer job and now thought that she'd be able to get a job at the mall with no experience. Kristin was shocked into silence as Darcy continued. "Oh, and my dad wants to ask you something," Darcy said. "Hold on, I'm going to put him on the phone." Kristin was still in shock from Darcy's announcement, and talking to Darcy's dad was definitely a strange development. She wondered what he could possibly want. "Hey Kristin," Darcy's dad said warmly. "How's your summer vacation going?" "Oh, okay, I guess," Kristin said, and then she explained the trials and tribulations of her job search. "Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said. "Darcy's mom and I were talking about the job position now open at the video store. I suppose Darcy talked to you about working with her brother?" "Well, yes," said Kristin hesitantly. "She mentioned something about it." Darcy's dad continued, "Since Darcy doesn't seem to appreciate the opportunity we gave her, we thought we might ask you if you would be interested in working at the video store, instead. So, what do you think?" Kristin didn't have to think for more than half a second before she blurted out, "Definitely!" She couldn't believe her luck. Darcy's dad told Kristin the basic requirements of the job and when she should show up at the video store the next day. Then, smiling to himself, he put Darcy back on the phone. "I can't believe you took that stupid job," said Darcy. "Didn't I tell you what it was like working with Joey?" She continued to chatter on about her plans to get a job at the mall. Kristin knew things probably wouldn't be easy for Darcy, and she smiled as she thought about the shock Darcy would get when the reality of the real world of work hit her tomorrow. Then again, maybe Darcy liked dirty dishes and diapers! 12. What was the main reason Darcy's dad offered Kristen a job at the video store? He knew that Darcy wouldn't work out. He thought she would be a good worker. He thought she could work with Darcy's brother.

Answer 1

The main reason Darcy's dad offered Kristin a job at the video store was that he knew Darcy wouldn't work out. He mentioned that since Darcy didn't seem to appreciate the opportunity they gave her, they thought they might ask Kristin if she would be interested in the position instead.