Volunteering and returning - or not.

Today I decided to do some volunteer work for that art gallery. This way, I gain experience, keep my unemployment and am still able to do contract work for a friend of a friend. The more I'm at the gallery, the more I like it. You all may remember that I interviewed there mere days after being laid off. I was still a bit shaken up and probably not really ready to think about a career change, contract work and fitting in to a whole new place. I'm beginning to really admire the woman who I'll be working for. She reminds me of a prettier version of my grade school principal, with better hair and clothes. It's nice to be able to imagine running into the owners at an art functions somewhere. I wonder if we have run into each other in the past. It's likely.

Before it all gets underway, there's a little matter of an interview in Verona tomorrow. Working there seems like it would be a big step backwards for me - after yearning to escape for about six years or so. On the other hand, anyone who says, "You're shittin' me." when scheduling an interview can't be too bad. The converse is that it's entirely likely that he or someone else in the company recognized my name and wants to get a good look all these years later. (See below for clarification.)

That area seems to be a small, compact version of Pittsburgh's leaving and returning syndrome. Many people who I went to grade school, middle school, high school with did just that. Now, their kids go to the same schools they attended, and hang out with (or hate) the kids of the people they hung out with (or hated).

That reminds me, there has been random talk of a reunion for my high school class. We've never had a reunion. We hate each other. It's true.