To be perfectly honest, I have trouble remembering the last time in my life I wasn't working two jobs. Likely, it was sometime during my undergrad, although I was always taking an above-average amount of classes, not to mention committing myself to various extracurricular activities. Needless to say, I have spent a large portion of my mostly-adult life busy with work.
My history of 'working' too much (ultimately, having too many things on my daily schedule) is a fairly significant problem: I am a self-diagnosed, recovering workaholic. Many times in my life, work (or work-like activities) has taken priority over relationships, or my general well-being. It isn't surprisingly that I became a workaholic; my Mom (love her) is most certainly of the workaholic persuasion, especially as she continues to work full-time even though she is able to retire.
All this to be said that I had no problem moving to Ottawa and working two jobs while my husband pursued an MA in Public and International Affairs. Initially, I only had my part-time job at Chapters, and then was lucky enough to get a job working at this place. But, things being what they were, I decided it was better to work two jobs (especially considering I loved my part-time job) and ensure income stability than to be stressed about making ends meet, etc.
Great intentions. Not the greatest results.
Don't get me wrong; I thoroughly enjoyed working at Chapters. When I was still in the process of completing my BA in English, but was obviously on my way to my BEd, people would ask me about my post-grad plans; high school? middle? elementary? private? public? fundamental? demonstration? My answer became that, more than anything, I wanted to work as a teacher-on-call (read: a substitute teacher) and work part-time at Chapters. People were always quite surprised, but that was my dream. And, sometime early in the 2009 school year, I was TOCing and working at Chapters.
Working with books (and other people who love them) was absolutely wonderful. I even had the privilege of starting working at Chapters along with my good friend Shawna (who was also TOCing). As retail environments go, bookstores are--in my opinion--one of the more positive places to work: people are much less likely to complain about books than they are about clothing or food.
But eventually, I was teaching four or five days and at the bookstore three or four times a week. It was too much. The same thing happened once I moved to Ottawa, although I was always working 40 hours per week, and working at Chapters on top of that. After months of readjusting my availability and posting shifts and reminding myself how much I love books and powering through with grande peppermint mochas, I was done.
I promised myself (after hearing way too many complaints) that if I ever stopped enjoying my job at Chapters, I'd quit. And, because every time I went to work I was preoccupied with everything else I had/wanted to do, I stopped enjoying my part-time job. When my part-time job at a bookstore didn't allow me enough time to actually read books, there was clearly a problem.
I have so many good memories from working at a bookstore, and (with the risk of sounding uber-sentimental) I will certainly look back on these 2+ years of part-time work with fondness. I got to work with some seriously amazing people, and have the privilege of talking about how important literacy and education is in the context of my work.
It's relatively probable that I will work at a bookstore again in my life. In this season of my life, however, I am fortunate to (finally!) be part of a DINK (double income, no kids) household. I fully intend to continue reviewing books on Goodreads and my blog, and I'm certain that I will be in my former workplace at least a few times a month.
Thanks Chapters. Its been a slice.
--- chRistie
