It has been a long tradition that teachers will often get a second job to make ends meet. I was no different. What can be helpful is to find a position that assists your teaching. When I was getting started as a teacher, Barnes & Noble was coming into the Denver market. My wife stumbled onto one that was in the southern part of the city that had opened. She thought it might be something to keep me busy. They were not hiring but the new one in Aurora was getting ready to build a staff to open that store. I went and got an application and was hired. It had flexible hours and stayed open late so it gave me an opportunity to get a good amount of hours. The real benefit was that I could get books at a discount. Teaching elementary was a challenge because I didn’t have any children’s books and I don’t have anything from my childhood so it gave me the chance to build a classroom library. I enjoyed working for them and was in charge of the business and computer books section.
I have a history with fate and luck. Some things should be simple and easy but I always seem to have complications. Working for B&N was no different. We had a very solid management team that made a success of the Aurora store. They soon promoted and moved our assistant manager Val to the Southwest Plaza store across town. We replaced him with two young assistant managers that didn’t have much background and struggled with their jobs because they were ill-prepared to be managers. Our manager went on vacation for a week and left the store to the two assistant managers. I was working only a few hours a week because I was teaching. I went in to work on Valentine’s Day and do an evening shift. When I got there they called me into the office. They proceeded to fire me because I was insubordinate and undermining their authority. I had only worked one other day that they were in charge and I recalled nothing untoward that would have led them to that conclusion. Later I found out that they were afraid that I would be promoted above them because the staff asked me questions. They didn’t realize that I was teaching and that I was not in search of their positions. They admitted this, by the way, in their exit interviews as they were fired.
I have had a guardian angel and she came through again. I called and talked to Val who was doing well at the Southwest Plaza store. I asked why he thinks they may have done this. I was afraid I was missing something. He said he would call the district manager and ask what the story was. He called back an hour later and told me what had been claimed. He also offered me a position in his store. So instead of firing me I was transferred to the Southwest Plaza store and worked there for another three years until we moved to Aurora and it was too far of a drive. The district manager approved and thought that something was amiss and didn’t want to lose someone. The other two assistant managers were fired within a month and the only last effect to the Aurora story is that they lost a good employee. Val told me that the Aurora manager called often to ask how I was doing and if he would trade me back. I never went back to the Aurora store until it closed and moved to a new location. I always enjoyed having a second job as a way to distract myself and express other talents. Later a story about the years I spent at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.