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Summer of the Procrasti-dreamers
Listen to this commentary!
Hae-Ok Miller
I didn't leave myself too many options for jobs this summer. Even in April,
when I updated my resume, I wasn't in any rush. My main concern was finals.
So I ended up back at a job I had before - retail in the city at 47 Geary/720
Market. My mom said, "I can't believe you are going back there. You are
not going anywhere with that job." She knows I'm selling myself short.
"A girl with so many talents. How could you be folding shirts?!!"
My friends who are coming home for the summer are an awkward hybrid of dreamer
and procrastinator. Ten years down the road, they see themselves with the profession
to drool over, the BMW M40 rather than the family Camry, and a home in Claremont
- a nice touch. But in the meantime they always settle for disappointing summer
jobs that will never get them there, like feeding a neighbor's cat. My friends
always succeed in justifying the loser summer job with lines like "It's
okay because I don't have mortgage payments."
For me, I'm comfortable with my sales associate status because I know I won't
make it my life. But for now, it's really glamorous, and a great escape from
future responsibilities. As I enter into the world of those with Manolo Blahniks
on their feet and Louis Vuitton on their shoulder I am essentially perpetuating
the vicious cycle of carrying on in la-la land. On the other hand, my parents
scramble to pay the PG & E bills and all the while try their best to teach
me how to live within my means.
With a bad economy, there are no guarantees this summer for anyone, especially
the average procrasti-dreamer. But never ending optimism allows my friends and
me to take the minimum wage jobs, empty out our piggy banks and worry about
the ramifications later. The best part about a summer job is that it is only
three months of loving it or hating it. When the time is up we can resume the
dreaming.
With a Perspective, I'm Hae Ok Miller.
Host Back Announce: Hae-Ok Miller, a student at Vista Community College, comes
to us from Youth Radio, an award winning journalism training program in Berkeley.
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