The Road Less Traveled (and for obvious reasons)

  I got a call back for a job that sounded very promising.  But as with all the potential jobs there are the pros and cons that have to be examined. 

  First of all the hours are from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week,, making it a long 50 hour work week and the job is salaried.  But it was working for a corporate catering company and I liked the idea of the fast paced environment and figured that if I was working in a busy environment the time would fly. Still, getting up at 5:00 a.m. to catch a 5:20 a.m.  #2 subway down to South Street Seaport was rather daunting.

  When I went for my first interview my son, Hunter, was with me, so although I saw the rat traps lining the sidewalks I was able to divert my attention to my conversation with him.  But when I went for my second interview I was alone. Although South Street Seaport has been built up as a major tourist attraction the area is still primarily a functioning fish market in the early morning hours.  So a large amount of the area are warehouse that are closed during regular business hours.  At one point I had to decide which street to walk down to reach the catering office which is literally underneath the Brooklyn Bridge at the end of South Street. I had two streets that I could take.  One was brightly lit by the sun with no cars lining the streets, but there were rat traps placed at each warehouse door and the other street had the shade of buildings still on it and cars lining the street but fewer rat traps, although I did worry that rats might be hiding under the cars.

  I don't know how rat traps work.  They look like roach motels except large enough for a rat.  I'm not sure if the rats go into the black box and die or if they go into the black box eat the poison and then leave and die.  Whatever... potentially each of those boxes that lined the sidewalks could have a rat trapped inside or inside eating rat poison.  What if I walked by and a rat ran out?  What if I walked by and the box shook with a rat trying to escape?  Hideous! 

  I chose the path with the sunshine on it but with more rat traps.  The fear of rats hiding underneath cars on the street with more shade dictated my decision.  But I still had the fear of walking by the rat traps and the rats inside the boxes responding to the sound of someone walking down the street and the boxes moving. So I literally ran down the street with my eyes diverted to the sky so as not to see the quaking rat traps.  I laugh even thinking about what I must have looked like to some South Street Seaport Tourist security agent sitting in a room monitoring the early morning streets before the tourist began flooding the area.

  Ok, so I got the dreaded rejection email the next day, but I have to say between the ten hour days and dodging rats this might have been for the best.