In the summer of 2006, I started working for an aquarium maintenance company in Long Beach. After several years of retailing in tropical fish shops, I was proud to have worked my way up.
Things quickly unraveled, however, and I soon made the realizations that come to all working youth: I was overworked, underpaid and unappreciated. And I think I’m smarter than my boss.
My boss had, in fact, drawn a map of Santa Monica when he meant Hollywood. After driving lost for nearly an hour and eventually taking directions over the phone, I finally pulled up to a small dental office. I parked my Dodge van and gathered my equipment. I raced up to the fourth floor, where I found it: a beautiful 200 gallon reef aquarium, with one very pretty and very dead fish.
I’ll skim over the few seconds it took to solve this problem, which remained a mystery to me until I arrived to perform the “emergency maintenance required.” It mostly involved a net, the receptionist’s chair and my total frustration.
Understand that I have held an enduring passion for fish keeping and aquariums for many years, but I found myself cursing the hobby by the end of 2006.
I was hired by a tank servicing company in the summer to “hold up the shop,” and answer the occasional emergency maintenance call.
Aquarium ancestry originates in the ’70s, and I could only describe this (now demolished) shop as the last poorly preserved relic of that early era. It was a sticky and salty network of leaking tanks, pumps and levers that reeked of brine.
I reduced my dress code to a wife beater and basketball shorts, as my clothing would stink of low tide by the time I finished. I did my best to catch the place up, but suffered constant harassment from my boss as to why I hadn’t turned it into the Aquarium of the Pacific.
The dead fish trip came at the end of a very long day. It was the last of three tank calls, and in between were pickups and drop-offs of equipment and merchandise. I left Hollywood at 5 o’clock, and spent the evening twilight wading through rush hour traffic and contemplating my next career move. In LA County that equates to a lot of thinking time.
With the end so close for many Long Beach seniors and super-seniors, the time has come for the class of 2007 to ask their own questions and make some tough career choices. This week’s Job Fair, which starts today and ends on the Thursday, will provide some surely needed guidance for graduates.
Making a smooth passage from these interim odd jobs into the real working world is a difficult task. I encourage everyone to explore these opportunities and take these next important steps with confidence.
Andy Franks is a junior business major.
