Working Girl

My girl is off to work today.
Oh, she's done odd jobs throughout her teen years...babysitting, cleaning for people, taking pictures.  And we let her put off getting a real job for as long as we could.  An unconscious effort to extend her free-wheeling, traveling, no-responsibility adolescence.
But with the start of college textbooks and gas guzzling commutes, she had to start looking in earnest.
She applied at the grocery stores and the banks...some hotels and the newspaper office...Wal-mart, Target, and Dollar Tree...even fast food...
Nothing.
I was starting to think I was going to have to sell one of my kidneys on the black market, when she finally got TWO calls in the same day!  She chose waitressing in a real restaurant over the fast food option, hoping the tips would more than make up for the less-than-min-wage hourly pay.
And she started working.
The first couple of nights were predictably hard and hectic, but she was optimistic.  Things would get better as she learned the ropes.
But it's been weeks now, and working for a demanding, verbally caustic, female boss who often gives conflicting instructions in the same breath is taking it's toll.  Hillary comes home stressed and sometimes tearful and pours it all out, as I sit and listen and try not to talk.  This is so hard.
But in a way, it's so good for her.
It's good in the way that making your child get their shots is good.  It hurts and it's hard to watch.  But you know that their body will take that bit of pain and use it to prepare for much worse things.  And in the end, they will be healthier people.
And I know that learning how to deal with people who don't like you...and learning how to let someone else's anger wash over you without soaking in...and learning that you CAN take a stressful situation and deal with it...and learning how to prioritize when there are so many things to do...and learning that you are WHO you are and not WHAT you do at work....is going to make her Stronger.  Better.  Tempered.
And I know that this job is temporary.  And she doesn't have a family or a house to take care of when she gets off work.  And we are here to bind the wounds and repair the damage after every shift.  So it will be ok.
Someday she will be out of school and making the world a better place by doing the things she loves and getting paid for it too.
So I take a deep breath.  And I don't call her boss to give her a virulent piece of my mind.  And I don't say, "Just quit!"  And I don't follow her to work and do part of her job for her.
Even though I want to.
But I DO pray a lot.
And sometimes...it works.  Like last night when she had a calm night and was let off early enough to do something fun with her friends.
I'm glad to see that she can take whatever comes her way...and WORK it!