We Want to Work

Within days of arriving at work on February 25 and finding out her job no longer existed, my (almost 21 year old) granddaughter was in the middle of running errands when her car broke down. I quickly went to check it out, thinking we'd put some fluid into the clutch master cylinder and she'd be on her way. Seeing that I had certainly anticipated inadequately, we left her car where it was, and we drove to my house. As soon as we got there, she phoned the dealer, and chatted for awhile. She was clearly upset, under the circumstances, but she kept her cool quite well, I thought. She then tried to arrange for a tow truck. Apparently the dealer had left her to make those arrangements, and she had a little trouble reaching their towing contractor. Since her mother, a hairdresser, knows almost everybody in the county, they managed to get that little inconvenience taken care of eventually.

Then she had to wait several days for the dealer to get around to appraising the situation.

Finding out that her disability was only partly covered by warranty, she told them to "go ahead and do that part", and she'd take care of the rest later. Then she continued to scout out as many job possibilities as she could find.

We suggested that she consider her mother's mechanic, who apparently did very satisfactory for her mom and dad. She checked, and found she could get the work done for just a little more than half what the dealer had quoted.

Last evening, her mother and I went over to the mechanic's shop, while the granddaughter was working her first day at a new job. The mechanic was willing to take payment for the parts and release the car, so she still has a little more than a third of the cost to pay, yet, but she now has her car.

She came over last evening to pick it up (I had driven it to my driveway from the mechanics, because he's about fifteen miles away in one direction, while she was at work, about the same distance away in another direction). She exclaimed that she was so happy to see it, that she was starting her "second job" this evening at 5:30, and it'll surely be handy to have the car to travel between the jobs.

I'd imagine that most of our young people are not unwilling to work, they just need a fair shake from employers.