Praise The Lord! I Don't Have To Be a Stripper.

*Disclaimer: I feel that there may be some people who could be off put by this post; others will find it funny…it’s all based on true events, but written for humor. That being said, if you find the title offensive, I suggest you stop reading now.

So let’s get real. Judge me if you will, but the saying is true: “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

And I was this close to working in a gentleman’s club…not as a dancer (I would never do that), but as the hostess. You think I am kidding, but unfortunately I am not. I was desperate for work.

Let me back up a moment. Yesterday, like all mornings since I’ve been living here in Australia, was spent on the internet looking for jobs. By this time I had subscribed to three or four different job searching sites and had emails coming to me if any openings popped up near our suburb in Clontarf. One of my emails said that day said that four new jobs had been posted nearby, so I decided to take a look. One of those jobs I had already applied for, two I wasn’t qualified for, and the last one was a place called Rockets looking for a hostess/waitress…perfect I thought! I read the job description, felt qualified, and decided to email my resume/CV. Within thirty minutes I had an email back from Rockets thanking me for my interest, but also asking me for a recent full-length photo and confirmation of my age. Weird I thought.

So I decided to Google Rockets. And yep, it’s a gentleman’s club! But okay, nobody else was hiring so I decided to see where this went. Like I said, I was desperate. I sent a full-length photo (one from my friend Robyn’s wedding; not exactly recent, but I don't feel I've changed too much) and told them I was about to turn twenty-four this month. Five minutes later, another response! This time asking for a phone number to set up an interview. I emailed them back telling them that I don’t have an international phone number and email would work better for me (even though we have the Australian phone, I thought it best to not give that out since the boys usually have it. I didn’t want them getting a call from Rockets asking for Cristin, before I could tell them what was going on…I can only imagine what they would think). Two minutes later I get a response saying that email was fine and wondering if I could interview that night at 7:30pm. I wrote back saying that the next day would actually work better so that I could figure out bus/train routes into the city. Boom. My first interview in Australia was set for 7:30pm the following day!

Just after finishing up the back-and-forth emails with the lady from Rockets, I rode my bike to Margate (a nearby suburb) to find the Chamber of Commerce, like my dad had suggested yesterday, to see if they could offer me any help finding work. I got the closest Chamber of Commerce address from the internet and headed that way. Well the address given on the internet lead me to this restaurant called The Golden Ox. I thought I was out of luck, but decided to go in anyways and see if they could point me in the right direction. I spoke with the receptionist, Virginia, first and told her I was looking for the Chamber of Commerce. She told me to write my information down and she would have someone contact me. Weird. And then she ran off and got the owner of the restaurant, Nick. He asked me what I was looking for, so I decided to start spilling my guts…because why not? I told him how I was looking for the Chamber of Commerce because I had been in Australia looking for a job for almost three weeks with absolutely no luck. I told him how I left job offers in the states because I finally got the chance to visit a country I’ve always wanted to see. And I told him that I would do absolutely ANY type of work. Guts spilled. I guess he felt bad for me because he told me to come back at 6:30pm that night for an appointment. I was dressed in black leggings and an oversized t-shirt at this time, so he told me that I would need to be dressed for an interview, not like I was. Ha.

Rewind three weeks. The Golden Ox was LITERALLY the very first place in Margate I had walked into asking if they were hiring. Virginia has flat out told me no, and that it was a “quiet time” in the season.

Fast forward back to leaving The Golden Ox the second time around. I left and went home happy. I not only had one, BUT TWO, interviews by the end of the day! When the boys would get home from work each day the first thing they always say is, “Well, any luck?” The answer was always no. And honestly, I was starting to feel like a burden…they were being nice enough to not make me pay rent until I got a job. But this time, for the first time, I got to tell them yes! I had luck! To top it off, when they got home they brought in the mail, and with it was my Australian Tax File Number, which I probably wouldn’t have been able to work without. Everything was starting to fall into place!

Fast forward nine more hours...and I GOT THE JOB!!! At The Golden Ox :) Detaila of the interview are still to come, but for now I have to do homework...I'da thought that stopped once I graduated, but nope...I have to learn the darn menu now.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." - Psalm 100:4

XO - Cristin