Yesterday was Thanksgiving. The Czech Republic obviously does not celebrate the American holiday because the Mayflower never landed in Prague and the settlers never gave thanks to the Czech Native Americans...if that makes any sense at all.
So it wasnt much of a holiday for Jamie and I. I worked in the morning until the late afternoon at Anagram. When I was about to leave, Pavel asked me to step outside to talk for a second. I thought this was ridiculous, considering it was below freezing at that point. But I stepped out anyway, wondering what the crazy Czech had to say to me that it had to be said in the frost-bitten air.
Do you want to continue working here, he said? Now what is this about, I wondered? I told him that of course I did, leaving out the fact that I liked the work and the atmosphere, regardless of the fact that the pay was shit and I wasnt exactly getting any good from working there. He continued to tell me that he thought I was a good fit in the bookshop, but that after reviewing finances with the owners, he was going to have to let me go in the beginning of January. Which caught me quite by surprise, considering the fact that in the beginning, he told me that he did not want anyone who was going to have to leave in a couple months. He wanted someone who he could rely upon to be able to work in Prague for at least a year. And here he is telling me that I was going to be let go after a couple months. Mind boggling. And the fact that it was a financing issue. It was not as if they were giving me a good salary. It is equal to American minimum wage at the beginning of the '80's. Maybe. If the minimum wage sucked big time. If they even had minimum wage back then.
But I have to take it all with a grain of salt. They do pay me shit and I did feel anchored by the part time aspect of the work. I should be working somewhere else anyway. The fact that they were letting me off is probably the break I needed to really figure the work thing out here, but I love the bookshop and it makes me sad to think that I wont be there in the future, employed. After all, it was my first job here in the city, and it gave me hope. Without the spark that the thrill of work gave me, without that I would have had a hard time slogging through financial strains and emotional upheavals that come with those strains. In short, I am thankful for what it gave me. It is too bad that it must end so soon. But, in much of the cases, you have no choice. This is absolutely one of those cases.
So that threw a shadow over my Thanksgiving. Not to mention that I did not get to have any pumpkin pie. That's like a tradition. My favorite dessert, and its almost impossible to find the pie here. Finally, Jamie and I found a place that makes it, and it only costs something like 40 USD. Talk about gourmet pumpkin pie. So no pie for me this year. Which is very very unfortunate.
So it wasnt much of a holiday for Jamie and I. I worked in the morning until the late afternoon at Anagram. When I was about to leave, Pavel asked me to step outside to talk for a second. I thought this was ridiculous, considering it was below freezing at that point. But I stepped out anyway, wondering what the crazy Czech had to say to me that it had to be said in the frost-bitten air.
Do you want to continue working here, he said? Now what is this about, I wondered? I told him that of course I did, leaving out the fact that I liked the work and the atmosphere, regardless of the fact that the pay was shit and I wasnt exactly getting any good from working there. He continued to tell me that he thought I was a good fit in the bookshop, but that after reviewing finances with the owners, he was going to have to let me go in the beginning of January. Which caught me quite by surprise, considering the fact that in the beginning, he told me that he did not want anyone who was going to have to leave in a couple months. He wanted someone who he could rely upon to be able to work in Prague for at least a year. And here he is telling me that I was going to be let go after a couple months. Mind boggling. And the fact that it was a financing issue. It was not as if they were giving me a good salary. It is equal to American minimum wage at the beginning of the '80's. Maybe. If the minimum wage sucked big time. If they even had minimum wage back then.
But I have to take it all with a grain of salt. They do pay me shit and I did feel anchored by the part time aspect of the work. I should be working somewhere else anyway. The fact that they were letting me off is probably the break I needed to really figure the work thing out here, but I love the bookshop and it makes me sad to think that I wont be there in the future, employed. After all, it was my first job here in the city, and it gave me hope. Without the spark that the thrill of work gave me, without that I would have had a hard time slogging through financial strains and emotional upheavals that come with those strains. In short, I am thankful for what it gave me. It is too bad that it must end so soon. But, in much of the cases, you have no choice. This is absolutely one of those cases.
So that threw a shadow over my Thanksgiving. Not to mention that I did not get to have any pumpkin pie. That's like a tradition. My favorite dessert, and its almost impossible to find the pie here. Finally, Jamie and I found a place that makes it, and it only costs something like 40 USD. Talk about gourmet pumpkin pie. So no pie for me this year. Which is very very unfortunate.
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