8:23 p.m. - 08.30.2002
Starting to open the door to the Real World.
Today I became a grown-up.
For three reasons.
One: I got my very first paycheck today.
Granted, I worked at JC Penney for one day, and then I quit. I still got paid for that, but the paycheck was only for one day, and it was very bittersweet since I knew I wouldn't be getting another one any time soon. So, I proclaim this to be my first official paycheck.
Two: I got my license today.
I was unbelievably nervous, and understandably. My mom thinks that I speed. Well, I do speed, but I'm aware that I'm speeding. It's not like I drive without looking at the speedometer. I always look at it. So, she says right before my test to watch my speed.
Because I was too busy watching my speed... I nearly got hit by a car. Thanks Mom!
At the end, the guy comes back into the place with me. He says to my mother "If you were me, would you give her a license." She hesitated. And for that moment, for that very brief moment in time ...� I thought she was going to say no. I thought that I would just be completely furious with her.
But she simply said "Yes. I would."
Three: I opened a checking account today.
That's the big one, right there. Checking accounts are so grown-up. I never knew any people in high school who had checking accounts. Though, I'm sure there were a few. But the feel of it is so ... post-high school.
It's a very cool thing. I'm growing up. I'm a grown-up. I have a job. I can drive; I can write checks.
And at the same time scary. The real world. Growing up. Paying bills. Going to college, getting an apartment. Living out on my own.
I think a part of me was still in that high school mentality. I still talk to a few people from high school. On the phone and whatnot. I still thought of myself as a kid.
But I've crossed the line.
From a kid to a grown-up. From high school to (almost) the real world.
From childhood to adulthood.
