First summer job

Guess who got a summer job? This kid-

Well, more like an internship... My office created a summer internship with the restaurant at the American Club for high schoolers to work as servers on the weekends for the month of June. They couldn't be paid, so they earned a voucher for $14 in food from the club with each shift they worked. For most foreign service kids who live overseas the majority of their lives, high school job opportunities don't exist. So skills like waiting tables don't get learned. 

Did Tate want to do this? Absolutely not. Did we see it as a teachable moment to say yes to every opportunity you are presented with? Sure as heck. So he worked 1 shift per weekend. One on asleepy Saturday afternoon, another for Sunday brunch and tasty for the fund hFriday night happy hour crowd. And he did excellent. The only time he spilled a drinks first shift, and it was on his buddy Brandon. Our friends told us he did so well. One of them even gave him a $14 tip! Tate admitted that while he didn't like it, he did learn a lot. And that's what it's all about- saying yes to opportunities where you can learn new skills that will likely help you out in the future... Applebee's here he comes! 

Tate thought it was crummy that he wasn't getting paid. So I explained that even though no cash was given to him, he was still helping to contribute to our family finances- because each food voucher he earned, was $14 less in food that we had to spend from our food budget. That didn't quite matter to him so much.... 

You know what else was awesome about this- he looked good. And when you look good, you feel good. The first day he went to work- freshly showered, hair gelled, wearing the required uniform of a (new) black polo and jeans, plus his still fresh looking Vans- he knew he looked good and was just a little more confident. 

Great job kiddo.