Friday, July 30, 2010

hindsite is 20 to life

So, once upon a time, I was a girl who was looking for a job.

I had been living in Chicago for almost two years and had had the same job for most of that time (although it had gone from just part time to full time to my own office to having my own office being "too far" from my boss and having it taken away to basically spending every day trying not to scream and punch kittens in frustration).

So it was finally time to look for a new job. Having no idea what I wanted to do with my life (except knowing that I didn't want to work at my current job) I started applying for anything that sounded admin-y or artsy or that it wouldn't include taking off all my clothes.

One of the very first resumes I sent out, I got an e-mail back about, almost right a way. I was astounded by my good luck, I went to the first interview and listened to the girl who I would be replacing talk about what sounded like an ideal job, full time, benefits, some flexibility, a decent salary (she didn't give me a number but said it would keep me comfortable). I describe all the adventures I had undergone with my bosses and she was impressed (as would you, buy me a beer and ask me about my first real job in Chicago - it is the stuff terrible rom coms are made of).

So after the first interview, came a second interview with the guy I would be personal assisting for... he came off kind of strong but not like a bad guy. He was very interested in telling me about all the traveling I would do, and the perks of the gig and then he named the price.

Without giving specifics - it was a BIG price tag he was willing to pay to have me run errands and answer phones for him, with the added perks of a computer, car allowance and blackberry (back when I was 22, a blackberry sounded super sexy and cool).

We had another meeting and a couple of phone calls and it got to the point where the job was mine and I had a few reservations and finally, at the last second, backed out. I was afraid that a job where I was jetting off all the time would put a serious cramp in my improv jam.

Anyway, I ended up with my Museum job, and then my current job and my life is pretty good, but while talking to my current boss I thought of this job that I never took and how different my life would have been if I had been making at least twice what I'm making now.

So I went online to look up the company that I would have worked for to see where they were located and what their deal is, and their website was gone. Which was weird. So then I did a google search and what did I find?

The guy I would have been working for was charged with $3.7 million bank fraud scheme this past May. He's been doing shady business since 2007 (which means he was bad news before I would have started working for him) and is looking at 30 years or a cool $3-mil owed to the bank.

So - it goes to show a couple things. 1 - If you have a funny feeling about something...just go with it. 2 - Money doesn't buy you not having a boss who goes to jail. 3 - being the personal assistant of someone who gets charged in a crime like this probably doesn't make your life very easy.

Anyway - I love my job and I'm happy with everything about it but if someone would like to give me a lot of money, but not send me or anyone I know, to jail...that'd be awesome.

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She's pint-sized and amazing.