Drive...stop. Go to work. Sign out. Then drive some more. Go home. Get up, and drive.
This has been my reality for the last month. I took up a job at O2 since late October in an effort to become less reliant on parental support and pay back some of the ever-increasing student debt. But, being a cog in the telecoms machine doesn't come without drawbacks, as I have been finding out. Travel expenses incurred are not reimbursed, so rather than spend the entire Christmas period alone in Leeds in a cold house with no company whatsoever, I have been driving 450 miles up and down the M1 every weekend for work. It is hugely annoying that I am blowing out £50 of my £105 weekly wage on petrol alone, but that is life. As a temp worker, I dare not complain for fear of redundancy. Besides which, there are certainly worse jobs, and the money is very good considering.
Loneliness took over one weekend. I moved my keyboard into the lounge, poured myself a big glass of red wine and played freely for a couple of hours, immersing myself into... what? The dark bottomless void of realising that this academic year has been a complete waste of time, that people can be entirely different to who you thought they were, and the importance of family and friends in such times. Another weekend I invited Abhi (a guy at O2) over purely for company. We made Indian food and some marinades in the kitchen, and settled in the lounge to watch a few films. It was so cold that I woke up at 5 something in the morning, shivering and goosebumpy.
I'm not going to pretend this year will be easy. This is one of the toughest challenges I have faced away from home.
No comments:
Post a Comment