Working

This past Monday, I started my summer job. What do I do? I download computer software onto computers...lots of computers, and then I repeat this over and over again while my brain goes on standby until my next procedural slip-up. Despite their brain-deadening moments of boredom, jobs like these introduce me to so many people, and, since most of these people are older than me, they generally have life stories worth telling. Take Shawn, one of the several well-built black dudes at work. He grew up on the Southside of Chicago and spent his post-high school years (seven of them to be exact) in the military (four in the Marines and three in the Army). Shawn, however, is one of the most relaxed and chill military guys I've ever met. He credits his personality to spending his years in the Marines in a post with officers who were even more laid back than he was, who called each other by their first names, and, for better or for worse, told a then intense and tense Shawn to lighten up a bit. Shawn is an entrepreneur at heart; he has always wanted to run his own business. He's hoping that this job will give him the income to continue pursuing his dream. Then there's Lynn. She had to quit college because she had kids, four of them to be exact. She grew up in Lisle, which is where I live now, but currently lives in Westmont, which is roughly where I grew up. Her husband is a minister of a small church that meets at Benedictine University, which is practically in my backyard, because they don't have a building. Her kids are separated by roughly two years, the eldest being seven years of age. As you can tell, the only thing that has kept me sane through the first couple days have been meeting these people, and trying to at least reflect on what is so easily can be a thoughtless job. Perhaps by the end of this summer, there will be more to say about this.