Grown up...

Alright, here is my first post since 2010. Since then many aspects of my life have changed. I went ahead and planted my seed yet again and had me another kid. I started growing a sweet ass beard. I got a ton of tattoos and put giant holes in my ears. Then me and my family were pretty much forced to uproot our nice comfy apartment life and buy a house. The only thing that has stayed the same is my job but more on that later..Oh yeah and somewhere in there I turned 30. Well a couple more years have passed and now I'm 32, and while I may be considered to be an adult and have made some very adult like decisions I don't feel like an adult. I'm married have two kids and a house and two cars and yet I still feel like I did when I was in high school.  

    For a while I used to think that this might be a bad thing. And the biggest reason for that was the job I have. I work at a grocery store third shift. I've been doing it for 13 years. Again most people would look at this as a bad thing. When I first got this job I thought it was going to be perfect, I'd work at night when everyone was sleeping then I'd sleep while people were at work but mor importantly while my now wife then girlfriend missy was in school. And for a long time it worked perfectly. Well the years went by and I kept on truckin on the graveyard shift. I'd sleep all day and work all night. Then my children were born. The only thing that changed then was I got less sleep....a lot less. Now here's the part where I noticed that people looked down on me for the job I chose. My aunt and uncle own a clock shop in menomonee falls. They've had this shop since way before I was born. Let's just say they don't have to worry about money. Every once and a while me and missy would stop in there and shoot the shit. Then I noticed something, it didn't happen right away but after a while it seemed like every time we would go there my uncle would ask "so you still working at pick n save?" It didn't bother me at first but like I said it started happening every time. Of course the answer never changed. 

     Now I understand that they are family and there may be the chance that they just want me to better myself. Well that's where I have an issue. Why should I better my self if I feel like I'm already doing just fine? I don't just get this from them,  I get this all the time.  Recently I have crossed paths with a few of my old friends from high school. These are people who I used to backyard wrestle with trash our school after hours with and do things on film that would make most people question our sexuality all for the sake of getting a laugh. Some of these people I have not seen in almost 12 years. They went on to be delivery drivers making fat cash and taking trips all over the world and cops bustin bad guys. Some went on to start their own multimedia companies and some went to work for major national news broadcasting corporations while others left the comfort of the not terribly complicated 3rd shift grocery store job to find something better, more grown up..

    When I see or talk to these people there's always this sense that because my job isn't really considered grown up or a career, that they look down at me for never trying to be better. Funny thing is, I don't want things to be better. Yeah working at a grocery store at night is not the greatest job but here's the thing. Like I said before, Im married have a house two cars and two kids. All that's missing is a dog in the backyard and I'm living by what most people's standards would be the "American dream". We are in no way struggling for money or chasing after some fantasy that we know will never be obtained. If you were to go back in time to when I graduated high school and asked me where I thought I'd be in 10 years. I can guarantee my answer would have been pick n save. I've never dreamed big or wanted more. I look at all these people bettering themselves and being grown ups and I laugh. Most of these people look like they've been through hell and back just to obtain their job status and be grown up. And while I have lost some hair and the work that I do has given me some fucked up knees. I still look and feel pretty much the same as I did 13 years ago when I graduated. 

    I couldn't ask for anything more in my life because I already have so much more than I ever expected to have. So when people ask me if I'm still working at pick n save with that snarky little joking tone in their voice just waiting for the obvious yes answer. I just say yep same old shit and move on. I don't need to grow up, I don't want to do better and I don't fucking care if little old ladies keep glancing over their shoulders at me to see if I'm up to no good. See I may act like an immature asshole most always. I swear A LOT, I scratch my nuts I'm public and give people dirty looks when they stare at me, hell sometimes I scream at people walking on the sidewalks while I'm driving my car. But all that really matters is that I'm always there for my wife and children when they need me. We both have steady jobs (both at pick n save) that pays decent for the work we do. There's always plenty of food in my fridge(and beer) and I don't have to beg for money or wait for an assistance check from the government. So if I ever see any of you and you think its funny that I STILL work at pick n save.....go fuck yourselves.