WEEK     JOB: HOTEL WORKER

LOCATION: KITCHENER, ONTARIO

MY EMPLOYER, THE Holiday Inn Kitchener/Waterloo, provided me, Ian, and Karen with a room containing two queen-sized beds. It was perfect—we wouldn’t need to commute, and Karen could work from the hotel business center during the day.

On Thursday, Ian and I sat in the staff lunchroom at a long table with several other employees on break. I’d just finished a shift in the laundry room, where I folded towels and ironed linen. On the lunchroom table there was a copy of the local newspaper. The cover featured an article about One-Week Job along with a picture of me back in the studio at Dave FM. An employee seated across from us picked it up and pointed to the picture. “Hey, is this you?” he asked.

“Yeah, it is,” I said, thinking how seldom it is that you’re reading an article about someone, then look up to realize that the person is right in front of you.

The employee agreed with me. “Wow, that’s weird.” He casually scanned the article, then asked, “So, you’re working here this week?”

“Yeah, I’m doing a bit of everything—peeling potatoes, serving drinks to priority club members. Last night I helped set up for a banquet, and I just got back from working the laundry room.”

“Where are you working next week?” he asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” I said.

“Must be nice making the front page of the paper,” he added. I detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice. The suspicion that I was doing this for the media attention rather than the jobs was at times hard to shake.

In reality, the media exposure had helped me attract job offers from curious employers, certainly more than I could have found on my own.

“You always manage to find a job?” the employee asked.

“So far,” I replied.

It was always a last-minute decision. The offer would be too far away, or the timing didn’t work, or perhaps it was a career that didn’t interest me. Typically I’d receive more offers once I was in a city, and so I preferred to keep the options open. But it was now Thursday afternoon in the staff cafeteria, and still nothing had come up.

“It’s kind of been like building a bridge as we walk,” Ian explained. “We take each step not sure where we’ll land but positive that it will work out.”

Silence followed Ian’s statement, which made it seem more profound than he’d intended. After a couple of reflective “I dig what you’re sayin’” nods from all three of us, the employee shuffled the newspaper together and packed up his lunch. “Well, I got to head back to work. Catch you guys later,” he said.

Back in our hotel room that night, I sat at my computer while Ian and Karen watched TV.

“So, where am I going to work next week?” I asked.

“Ha, I don’t know,” Ian said. “What are the options?”

I flipped through the few job offers in my inbox.

“There’s a management trainee position at a hotel in Toronto,” I said.

“Nah, we’re already at a hotel this week,” Ian said.

“Yeah, true.”

“Here’s one to be a hairdresser.”

“That’d be interesting,” said Karen.

“Oh, never mind. They say that the offer is not until the fall.”

“Check out this one,” I said, half joking. “Retro-Raw Boot Camp for Body, Mind and Soul.”

“What?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “Looks like it’s in Hawaii anyway.”

I opened another email from a couple of weeks earlier. “How about internal auditor?”

“Meh,” said Ian.

Karen laughed. “There’s no way I could leave it to the last minute like this. I’d have to have everything organized beforehand.”

“That’d be nice,” I said. “I need to figure something out pretty quick here.”

I continued to sort through offers, but nothing grabbed me. I decided I’d send some emails out later to try and line something up.

I opened my iTunes, scanned my music library for a song that would liven up the dull mood. I located my favorite song at the time—“Starlight” by Muse, hit Play, turned the volume up to full blast, then leapt onto my bed. It wasn’t long before Ian and Karen couldn’t resist and joined in. Jumping on hotel beds with music blaring tends to boost any mood. We bounced up and down until the song came to an end.

I hopped off the bed to select another.

Hovering over my laptop, I swiftly compiled a new playlist—“jumping on hotel bed music”—then I noticed that I’d received an email. I sat down to read it.

“Hey, guys, check this out,” I said.

I read the email aloud:

“Hi Sean, I heard you on Dave FM last week. How would you like to work part-time for one week at my vet clinic. Your title would be Veterinary Assistant. You would help hold animals for exams and treatment, assist with procedures such as dentistry, surgery, and radiology (with a lot of supervision, of course!) and perhaps help my receptionists as well. I am flexible about timing. You could start next week at 8 am if you like!”

I turned to Ian and Karen, still frozen as they’d been when the music ended. After a moment of consideration all three of us answered in a word: “Done.”

I hit Reply. “Sounds perfect, Louise! I’ll see you Monday morning at eight o’clock!”

I cranked the music, and the jumping resumed.