One of the most difficult parts of any story is closing one chapter and opening the next.Â
With my final year at the forefront of my priorities, I have decided to pack up my little life in Limerick and leave behind everyone and everything I once loved, with the hopes of beginning my next chapter.Â
My summer months were spent going for coffee with friends and working at my part-time job, a simple life for a simple girl in a simple little town. My life in Limerick was small; I lived in a town where everyone knew everyone. It was a close-knit community that all knew my name but would soon begin to forget my face. My next chapter is an entirely different one, and while I have a rough idea of how it will start, I have no idea where it shall end.Â
Jumping from one routine to the next is always difficult, but over the past few years, I have built such amazing friends who make my landing seem stable. The simple summer life of my part-time job is now just a distant memory as the chaos of being a broke college girl. Soon to be living in the library with a constant flow of caffeine hooked up to an IV, will make me miss escaping down to Limerick to run around a little pub full of people I spend more time with than my family.Â
The problem with a part-time job is that it is not forever. It’s rare that a person works a minimum wage job and never wants to leave. At Bobby’s, I felt as though I was so much more than just a waitress. Over the last year, every time I stepped foot into the bar, my ego grew slightly more. I felt on top of the world working in Bobbys, I knew every corner of that building. I knew every regular and their order. I was like a bullet getting food and drinks to the tables. I could recite all four menus by heart. There wasn’t a pint I couldn’t pour, and no coffee left the bar without a heart drawn on top. But there is one thing that I will miss most about Bobbys….Â
A common saying you hear about the workplace is that it’s not necessarily the place but the people that make a person love a job so much, and Bobbys had it all. It was difficult not to smile when working with such amazing individuals; everyone who worked there genuinely wanted to be there, and that’s what made the place feel so special to me. I loved working with my friends, laughing and sharing my love for new lingo, such as the word “Pasha” when a customer was too rude to one of the girls, or “LOL” when we saw the mess that was the pantry after a rush. I loved using words that made no sense to anyone else but us. It was almost a secret language that kept us all at ease on the days of no staff and too many customers. The floor was my home and I did laps of it every hour most days a week, its rare to come into work to have chats with the regulars and the girls on your days off but I was attached to bobbys it was my home within a home, knowing this summer was my last has me so sad but also made me appreciate it even more.Â
Every book has a different story, and every chapter changes. We often read a book and question the writer’s choice to lead characters down certain roads, but by the final chapter, it all seems to come together. Books are like life; no two stories are the same, but that’s what makes them so special. Every chapter of our life is so important; it shapes us into the person we need to be to get through the next chapter. I am so grateful for my time in Bobby’s, but even more grateful for the friendships I made while working there. Bobby’s was not my final chapter, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t one of my favourites. I am nervous to see where I will end up next, but I am excited for all the highs and lows I will face; the world is forever changing. This upcoming year is going to be crazy busy for all final years. I want to spend as much time as I can with my friends, but I still want to do well in college.Â
My goal is to leave this place behind, too, so I must enjoy every day and appreciate every moment with my girls. I don’t know where we will all end up, which is both exciting and scary at the same time.Â