The sun had just risen, it was six o’clock, and Jared would not get up for school. His

mom promised him a laptop if he would cooperate with her and just get up on time. He

wanted this laptop more than anything, but he was physically incapable of waking up at

this early a time. Jared pondered the thought of using an alarm clock- even though they

were proven ineffective in the past- but he was willing to try anything.

The very next morning, at the same time as the previous day, the alarm clock went off

in full blast. Of course, Jared wouldn’t budge. He slightly woke up, but was still 75%

asleep. Jared fought it and fought it, but was still reluctant to get up. When he finally

decided to crack his right eye open, he got a glimpse of the new Dell catalogue and

thought of that laptop he would receive if he would just stick it out and get out of bed. At

that moment a miracle occurred, Jared leaped out of his bed and put on his clothes,

brushed his teeth, and did his hair. When his mother saw that her son was up and ready

to go to school at a reasonable time she was so happy that she said, “Sweetie, I’m so

proud of you for getting up; today when you come home, you just may see a new laptop

sitting on your desk.”


Jared came back with, “Wow, thanks mom, I’ll get up like this

every morning.”

When Jared came home that day, he was pleased to see that his computer was on his

desk in a shiny new Dell box. After he had the computer the motivation was gone, and he

decided to stay up until two o’clock in the morning. All he did that night was play video

games and watch movies.

The following morning he was in a deep slumber, and there was no way he would be

getting up for a while. His mother was very confused and very regretful for buying him a

new computer. When he was finally woken up enough she said,” I’m so disappointed

Jared, yesterday you promised to wake up on time every morning. Your new computer

now belongs to your younger brother.”

School wasn’t so fun that day seeing how he fell asleep in four of his classes in the

morning. When the principal got wind of this news, he was very concerned, and called up

Jared’s mother. The news was not very well received.

As he walked up the driveway to his house he could feel the disappointment of his

mother. He opened the door expecting a lecture and a scream from his mom, but she

didn’t, instead she just shot him a disappointed look and went back into the kitchen to

prepare dinner.

When Jared saw his brand new laptop on his brother’s bed he was enraged. That was

his laptop, not his evil brother’s. He went into his own room and saw his old, broken

computer. It was five years old and there was a mold growing and seeping out of the

sides of the computer; it belonged in the local dump. It was at that moment that Jared

came to his senses and realized that he would have to work for a new computer. He also

knew that since he was only fourteen he would have to work at McDonalds or as a bus

boy at a restaurant.

As soon as Jared came back to reality, he went for the newspaper and saw that there

was an ad for a bus boy at Linguini’s, a little pizza shop two miles away from his house.

Automatically, he went to change his clothes and started to head down to the restaurant.

Upon arrival, Jared stood at the door for a few minutes just trying to calm himself. He

took a deep breath in and then out, and went into the threshold. He went to the front desk

and politely asked for a job application. The host shot him a dirty look, as if he didn’t

want him there, but Jared never lost his nerve. He began to fill out the application,; it was

so strange for him, a fourteen year old, to be filling out a job application. It was starting

to get dark, so he left, and with a smile on his face.

The next morning came around, Saturday, the best day of the week in Jared’s mind. He

sat by the phone from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. He began to give up hope, started to reach

for the newspaper to look for job listings. Suddenly there was a noise that sounded

like ringing, and it was ringing. He picked up the phone to see if it was his long awaited

phone call, and it was! Mr. Linguini answered the phone and said the two words that

made Jared so happy, “You’re hired”. It took him a few minutes to really comprehend

what he was hearing, but when he did, he was so overjoyed. He would be starting on

Monday, the day he has hated most, but not this Monday.

Monday afternoon came around and Jared was very excited for his new job. School had

just ended and he was on his way to Linguini’s. As he walks down the street a car comes

by and runs right into a puddle, showering him with dirty, muddy water. He was all wet,

and in filth nonetheless. He had absolutely no ideas, he didn’t have a change of clothes,

and he couldn’t go home and be late for his first day of work. He would just have to go

into work looking like a slob.

He walked into the restaurant and got many dirty looks from employees and customers.

When he went to meet Mr. Linguini, he explained his situation and story, and luckily Mr.

L had some empathy for Jared. He told him of how he had a similar experience when he

had his first job. Jared was so relieved and got to work. Sadly for Jared, the other

employees weren’t as sympathetic as their boss. They did everything they could to drive

him away they tripped him, hid his apron, and many other cruel jokes. Jared went home

miserable that night and didn’t want to return the next day.

The following day Jared had no intention of going to work, but he made a commitment

and if there is anything that his parents taught him, it would be to honor a commitment.

Just as yesterday, he proceeded to Linguini’s, except this time he didn’t get splashed by a

car or anything else unfortunate for that matter. He was actually having a pretty good

day. He thought to himself, “Maybe today will be a better day, everything else has gone

great today, you never know.” He suddenly found himself at the entrance of Linguini’s.

He was nervous, but also excited at the same time. When walking in, he felt a chill, this

wasn’t a chill from an air conditioner, it was the cold feeling he got from his fellow

employees. He decided not to let them get to his head and to just do his job.

A family of six had just finished their dinner, and Jared had to clean it up; the kids

consisted of two toddlers, a ten-year-old boy, and a one year old baby. When you put

these kids together, it was like inviting a natural disaster into a restaurant. There were

meatball chunks in the seats, a thick coating of vodka sauce on the table, and olive oil all

over the floor. It was a difficult job, but Jared was up to the challenge. The host and a few

waiters thought it may be funny to make his time harder; they put more olive oil on the

floor. They “accidentally” dropped an order of spaghetti and meatballs on the floor where

he would fall, making his fall even funnier. Everything went as they planned, he was

embarrassed and covered in food and sauce.

That evening after work, Jared marched into his boss’s office and resigned. His boss

was disappointed; but understood, he told him that most everyone quits their first job.

Jared was sorry that he gave no notice for his resignation, but he had to get out of there.

He proceeded toward the door to leave the restaurant, when the waiters and other staff

clapped upon his departure. On his walk home he thought about the computer that he

would have to settle on, the old and moldy one. It wasn’t fair, it was disgusting, but it was

what he’d live with. When he walked into the house he said to his mom in a sad,

monotone voice,“ I resigned from Linguini’s, just to let you know.”


She returned with,” How come you quit, was it too hard for you?”



In an aggravated and shamed voice Jared said, “No, I- I just didn’t like it. Ok?”



She said, “Alright, I get it.” That night, Jared crept into his mom’s room and said,


“Thank you.” That was all he said, and his mom got it, she didn’t need to hear

anymore.