It was a hot summer day in the middle of June on a Saturday, and I had work. And to be honest I really did not want to go. But I had to do what I had to make my money. I get there and I clock in and I already knew it was going to be a busy day, so I was more annoyed and tired than usual. For those who don’t know during the time, I was working for a bike rental company and usually Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays would be the busiest days during the week. This is because, these days are when the most tourist have reservation or decide to go on tours hosted by our company. So, I clocked in and grabbed my sign and headed to the location I was assigned to (I was a sign guy for like the first 2 weeks). Now it’s around 10:30 in the afternoon and its starting to pick up. Around this time, you would see a transition from the people of Manhattan going to work into mainly tourist coming out of their hotel. By this time, I brought in around 3 customers. As more people started to reel in, I receive a call from the manager who oversees the sign team.
I pick up the phone and he says, “can you get to me”. I go “of course, is everything okay?”. He goes “yes I’ll explain when you get here”. As I am walking to him, I was worried. “Did I do something wrong?” “Do I not bring in many customers” “Is he mad I came in 5 minutes late” “AM I GOING TO GET FIRED?!!!?!?!?!” All these thoughts where going through my mind now. I honestly thought I was, because it was my first job ever, and I didn’t know what to expect.
I get there and he starts off with small talk. I answer and do the same. He then says you are needed in the garage. The Garage is where the bikes are stored, as well as being distributed to the customers. So, I am making my there and all you see is a very long line from the store and it’s at least 100 customers right there. I get to the garage and see Omar; I drop my sign and he tells me everything that’s going on out there and tells me what kind of bikes we need. And literally I have never seen this much of a hustle. It was straight up back and forth back and forth, 8 guys pushing 2 bikes at a time. And we were doing this for about 30 minutes.
After everything starts to cool down, I start introducing myself to the other fellow coworkers. Then my age pops up, and they are all in shock because at the time I was 14. And no 14-year-old would be expected to do this hard labor job. But you would expect they would praise me, but they didn’t. It was mainly asking about school and how it was. Then it transitioned into what I wanted to do in college. And then learning about their different backgrounds and how they had it growing up made me realize how important education is, and how it can change so many lives. And coming from hearing it every time from my parents, it would get annoying and you would think it’s their job to do so. But meeting new people who have different backgrounds and different come ups and you meeting them literally like 5 minutes ago, you would think this is no joke. And the way their words were so heavy and how it had so much meaning behind it really did change the way I view education. And honestly from that day I would think of education from a different perspective, before I met them it was more of a getting it done so I can get it done and just to satisfy my parents. But after I met them it was more of a way out, and to better my future and to actually do something with my life.
Overall, in my opinion that was the moment when my perspective on education changed. And honestly since then I haven’t strayed from that path. I still want more, and I still need more.
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