The Po Show

The Job That Wasn't

Ross says that it isn't always a question of why small businesses fail, but why some manage to stay in business. This, given the level of ineptitude and downright flakiness of people.

Almost two months ago, I was pissed off because our bathtub faucet was leaking again (this was the third time, and our landlord just keeps changing the washers rather than replacing it, because he keeps insisting that it's fine, despite the fact that periodically water gushes out and won't stop). Anyway, I did what I usually do when I'm pissed off about this house: I started looking on Craigslist for new rental listings. As usual, there were no good houses for less than $3500 a month or so, so I looked briefly to see if there were any interesting writing jobs listed. As usual, there were none. Then I did something I never do: I clicked on the "All jobs" header. As I scanned through the listings, the word "Gymboree" jumped out at me. It was a listing for teacher positions at the Gymboree Play & Music school nearby, with an informational meeting to be held that Monday evening.

This sparked something, the thought of getting to sing and dance and play with cute little toddlers. I loved the Gymboree classes that Tessa took when she was a year old, during that brief time after I quit working and before we moved out of LA. I sent an email to the posting address, attaching my resume and a cover letter. Then I spent two days vacillating on whether to actually go to the meeting.

I did go, and it was fun. The owner of the school (she owns six Gymboree Play & Music locations) was there, and she was very enthusiastic about the program and what it offers young children. At the end of the session, I mentioned that the Craigslist ad had stated that an interview would be given, but she said that the evening had been the "interview." Then she smiled at me and said, "I already know who I want to hire." I got home and sent her a nice "It was such a pleasure to meet you" email.

Two days later she called and said that she'd been very impressed with me and she was sure I would be a perfect teacher. She asked me if I could go to the school the following day and observe some classes to see how I thought I would like teaching, and that she would call me again to follow up. She asked about my summer plans and I said that though my kids were going to be in camp part of the time, there would be weeks in which I would need to be home, so she asked me to send her an email with my availability. I promptly did so, letting her also know that we go to CA for several weeks at the end of the summer. I said that I realized that being gone for a month was probably too long to be away from my classes, so I asked what would be considered an acceptable absence.

The next day, I went (though I had to change some plans I'd made for the day) and met the manager of the school, who led the classes herself. The babies and toddlers were so fun and adorable. I left feeling very good about the prospect of working there, and I was excited about reentering the "work world." This seemed like the perfect situation: part-time while the kids were in school, but at a decent hourly wage.

That was Mar. 18. As of Mar. 24, I had not received a call from the school owner, though she'd assured me that she'd call after I'd had a chance to observe the classes. I sent her another email, letting her know I'd enjoyed the classes very much and was eager to begin training. I didn't have a business number to call her back (she'd called me from home, and I felt uncomfortable calling there) and the school phone number on the Gymboree website went straight to a voicemail for three of the schools, saying that if you'd like to schedule a preview class, please leave a number. I was sort of confused that she hadn't called me back, since she'd seemed so eager to get the ball rolling on bringing me into the position.

The kids and I went to CA for spring break, came back, and there was still no phone call. I'd sort of written the whole experience off, when she called on Apr. 9, three weeks after she'd said that she'd call, and left me a message. The message was a little bizarre. She said she'd had a sick child in the hospital and had been very busy, and though she didn't know "who had dropped the ball," it had been a long time since we'd talked. She asked me to call her back and let her know if I was still interested in the position. This set off some warning lights, since she seemed not to remember that she was supposed to have called me back. Still, I returned her call, and she said her daughter had had an asthma attack and was in the hospital for several days (though this daughter is 28 years old and lives in her own apartment, which didn't quite jibe with my image of a "sick child"). We had a good talk and she was again very enthusiastic about me coming in to teach. She asked if I could participate in on some classes that week, which I did. Then I waited for her to call me back, which did not happen. I finally called her again and spoke to her very briefly, as she was running out the door. She asked if I could go in to observe some music classes, since she needed a music teacher as well as a play class teacher. She said she would call me again the following day. I said that was fine, but I really did need to speak to her regarding my summer schedule while the kids were off from school, and I mentioned that I had sent her the email she requested regarding my availability, in addition to several other emails. She replied, "Oh, I get so many emails to that address. I'm sure they're in there somewhere," so it was obvious that she had not read them.

On Apr. 14, I went in the observe the music classes, and I stayed for some play classes as well. I did not receive a call the next day. I called and left a message on Apr. 16, asking her to call me so that we could work out scheduling issues. I still have not heard from her.

Last week, on Apr. 26, there was a message from the manager of the school, saying that the owner (who had been under the impression that I had already been training all these weeks) had asked her to call me to ask me to come in to start training. I said that I really needed to talk to the owner to work out all my summer scheduling issues, and she said she'd try to convey that message, though she was struggling to get in contact with the owner herself (which was apparently a typical situation). She did promise to try and call me by the weekend with an update. The weekend came and went with no call.

Yesterday, May 3, the manager left me another message saying that she had not yet been able to get ahold of the owner, but she wanted to call me to let me know that she'd been trying. I decided that the time had long passed to bag this whole deal, so today I called her back and told her that I was withdrawing from the position. She said she completely understood.

So now I'm sad about this whole deal. I really would have liked to work there. The manager and other teachers were all really nice and the kids were absolutely adorable. It would have been nice to get out into the world again. But I decided that since I have the rare luxury of not "having" to work, I should not get embroiled in a situation that is obviously full of disarray. I know, I could have tried it and quit if I didn't like it, but I didn't want to waste the manager and other teachers' time training me (not to mention my own time) for something that probably was not going to work out. I was privy to several messages from other teachers at the various schools, through the teachers' Yahoo group, and there were constant messages to the owner asking about missing hours on paychecks and problems with supplies and air conditioning, largely to no response. I have so much aggravation in my life; do I really need more?

I believe that is a rhetorical question :).