Last week I was in NJ/NY to celebrate a milestone
birthday. It was nice. The real treat was seeing a young lady I had known since
birth present herself as an actualized, centered young woman. My daughter. I
had last seen her a few months before when she graduated from Georgetown
University and I helped her pack her belongings, say goodbye to college friends
and move back to NJ. She was sad, nervous, unsure and about to begin the finial
interview for (hopefully) a new job, her first employment as a young adult. I
picked her up at the train station after the interview – she had received a
firm offer via text during her ride home. She was told to report for work in
the office of Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, the following week. She was
excited. She was scared. “I don’t know if I can do this, Dad.”
We talked about how natural those feelings are, how change
is always scary and about the fact that she was well equipped educationally and
intellectually. We also talked about integrity and truth-telling, about how
important those qualities are, especially in the field she was about to enter.
“What if I make a mistake?” Count on it, you will. And the world won’t come to
a halt.
A few days later, I kissed her cheek - and drove back to
Ohio. And a few days after that, she dove into the sea of work. Sixty – seventy
hour weeks. Little sleep. Saying YES a lot. And learning. Leaning mostly about
herself.
On the 17th of October, I again picked her up at
the train station, this time after a 12 hour workday. We went to dinner. There
was something different about her. Entering the restaurant, we walked to the Maître‘d’s
desk. No one was there. We waited. We waited some more. Finally, a young woman
approached, looked in the reservation book, checked her iPhone for messages,
then looked up. “May I help you?” In an even tone, without a hint of anger or
petulance, my daughter said, “We’ve been waiting for five minutes. No one said
hello, no one said anything.” The young woman’s eyes widened, “Oh, I’m terribly
sorry!” She showed us to our table.
After dinner, the check arrived; my daughter took it and laid
her credit card on top. The waiter looked at me. “I’ll play this however you
want, Dad.” Let her get it. She’s in charge. “I like taking my Dad to dinner
for a change. I’ve got a job – I can afford it.” My oh my. Like I said – actualized,
centered, purposeful. A young woman.
Riding home in the car after dinner, she said, “You know
what my theory is, Dad?” Ah, no – what’s your theory. “My theory is, I’m 22
years old, I work hard, I don’t say no, I keep my head down and I produce.
That’s my theory.”
While I was in New Jersey this past week, she again had job
interviews, this time to join the staff of now Senator Cory Booker. She had
been in his employ for a mere four months. Her first interview was with the
gentleman who initially organized the office of Senator Al Franken of
Minnesota. After the interview, she was convinced she had done badly, had said
the wrong things. Did you tell the truth? “Yes.” Then you don’t have anything
to worry about. She passed muster and was asked to a second interview, this
time with the newly hired Chief of Staff for Senator Booker. Again, she felt
she had blown it. I picked her up afterward and we talked in the car ride home
from Newark. How many job interviews have you had in your life? “About three or
four.” We get good with practice. Did you tell the truth? “Yes.” If you are
supposed to get this job, it will happen. If not, fire and reload. You’re smart
and talented and work hard. “Thanks,
Dad.”
