Workin girl

I had many jobs before I became a lawyer and writer. My first job at 15 was at Taco Bell in Upland where I was forced to wear a brown and orange polyester uniform with a visor. It was not flattering. It's where I learned how to customize my Mexican pizza. When I worked the back, I would stir the ground beef in taco seasoning and think, what am I doing? Is this my life?

Next, Round Table Pizza in Upland. My best friend Tracy and I worked the delivery phones in the back. We ate pizza on the sly and answered the phones and put the orders together for the drivers. To this day, I remember that the number eight stands for pepperoni. Then after high school, many more jobs, including coffee shops, steakhouses, a rib joint and a bagel store. I worked at too many restaurants to count.

I worked at the Rainforest Cafe in Ontario Mills when it first opened. Then, I spent a summer doing room service at a hotel. That was the most interesting experience. It always threw me off to wait for the door to open. It never failed that I would get an uneasy feeling when I wheeled the cart in. The money wasn't bad but I always got creeped out. Back then though, I really didn't have anxiety. I was in survival mode. And I needed the coin.

My first semester of law school, it was impossible to work. I had no time. But I was broke and didn't qualify for private loans. So I lived with my boyfriend, now husband, Adrian and his parents and commuted first semester. I would dip into his jar of quarters for my bagel and Taco Bell lunch money. Adrian gave me a working car and a gas card. Well, two cars really because I wasn't good at maintenance.

By second semester, my law school friends and I found a cheap apartment off Adams and Figueroa. We clipped coupons and ate at home. A Starbucks coffee was a luxury. I never shopped. I had a couple pairs of black pants that I wore with different tops to school. Most weekends, I would drive to West Covina to hang out with Adrian. 

My first summer of law school, I worked at USC's Post Conviction Justice Project trying to free a battered woman on a felony murder charge who was sentenced to life. We won her case and she was released. They gave me a five thousand dollar stipend which helped a lot. My second summer, I worked at two large law firms, one in Phoenix and one in Houston. I was paid more money than I had ever seen which I saved to get me through my last year of law school and my bar trip to Ireland with Adrian.

I think because I spent so much of my life doing other things to make a living, that I'm never scared of change. I know that if I had to, I could do anything to make a living, whether it's arguing motions or slinging hash. I have a strong work ethic.

So let's see what I do this second half of my life. Hopefully a creative second half full of joy. Writing. Performing. 

Living.