To The Co-Workers Who Have Become Family

I work in customer service. I have strange hours, a long commute, and I wear a uniform. I'm talking a button down shirt, a vest, and yes, a bow tie. There are nights right before my shift starts when I stand in front of the mirror in the locker room to see if my vest is too wrinkly and I think "What am I doing here?" I start to feel down, confused, and any energy I had for the night is gone.

But you know what happens right after?

I open the door and I'm greeted by a wave of noise. Not just noise. "Fast talking, long stories, cheesy jokes, and a lot of laughter" kind of noise. I look around at the people surrounding me. We are quite a bunch. We come from all over the country (anywhere from Long Island to Iowa to Hawaii), we are all ages, shapes, sizes, color, etc. And yet here we are, all in the same uniform.

This is for them.

When I graduated college, I didn't expect the world to cater to me. I knew I would have to work extremely hard to get what I wanted but, when you're fresh out of school with no experience and no connections, doors aren't so easy to open. I applied for a seasonal position at a job that I expected to be just that: seasonal.

Two years later and I'm still walking into the same building. In those two years, I've learned a couple of things.

The first is that customer service is an interesting job. I've had a number of different jobs before, but I've never worked this directly with people. Some people appreciate what you do, others warm up with a simple smile and hello, and some, well, some don't. I've become very aware that people will look at a girl in a bow tie and think less of her. It doesn't matter how big my smile or how polite my tone because I'm somehow below the people I'm helping. On those nights, the nights when people are rude, when a little girl throws up, or a shift just seems longer than others, I want to collect my things and go. But I don't. And that's because of the second thing I've learned.

Your co-workers can make all the difference. I know mine do.

My coworkers went from being the people I saw from the outside to the people who truly understood what I was venting about, to the people who I could grab a drink on a Sunday night with because of our schedule, to some of my closest friends. The ones who I can reference "Parks and Rec" with one minute before crying on their shoulders the next. The amount of strangers who make me feel small on a daily basis is nothing compared to how high these people can lift me.

My coworkers are passionate people with a love of the arts. They are quick-witted, creative, and make me laugh harder than almost anyone; whether that be with an unintentional facial expression or with a bad joke when they know I'm having a bad day. And if this sounds like one long love letter to them, it's because that's what it is. I told you this was for them.

But maybe it's not. Maybe this is for all the coworkers out there who are stuck at a job that isn't the dream. The ones who drag their feet to work a little each day or feel like they should be doing "more."

Look around. Look at the people who support you, or if anything else, understand you. Whether it's someone's first job or thirtieth, you're together through the bad and the good. Take a moment to be grateful for that. I know I am.

Leslie Knope once said, "Not to say that public service isn't sexy because it definitely is, but that's not why we do it. We do it because we get the chance to work hard at work worth doing alongside a team of people who we love..."

"...Now. Go find your team, and get to work."

Well, Leslie, I found my team. And I'm so happy that I did.