I recently connected with a woman who is opening her own bookstore. The store will be open three days a week. She lives an hour or so away and she was looking for “dependable” people. I'm looking for part time employment (I work full time as well) and since I'm a writer, the store is 5 minutes away and there will be a lot of downtime, it seemed like a good opportunity.
When I met her she was very passionate about paying a decent wage even though she was only offering part time employment. We talked for like an hour and a half about nothing in particular, but the conversation moved along easily.
She was supposed to have a soft opening on Tuesday, so I offered to come by to help and discuss my schedule, pay rate, etc. We confirmed that I would come by at 3pm to help her with last minute prep. She emailed me and said she had a TV interview at that time and she'd let me know when to come. She didn't email me again that day.
Her official opening was today. She asked me to come by at 8:00 AT NIGHT on Thursday, to discuss my schedule, pay rate, etc. I agreed. Right after that email she sent another that said “I'll be at the store by 9am on Friday, when would you like to come by?”
I was extremely confused since I'd already told her that I have a day job. Plus, that wasn't the time OR day we'd agreed to meet. But I double checked her previous email, then I replied and reminded her that she asked me to come in at 8:00 AT NIGHT and that I had plans all weekend, since we hadn't discussed my schedule on Wednesday like we planned. No reply.
She didn't show up to our 8:00PM meeting either.
I'm really frustrated because we have so much in common and it really made me happy to see a black woman starting her own business with so much support from the community. When I heard about her bookstore, I immediately wanted to be involved (because I'm black and stuff). She seemed like a nice person, which makes me even more confused because she screwed me. I turned down a part time serving job paying $15/hr plus tips to work for her.
I've learned my lesson. Get the bag. Don't worry about commonalities. Don't try to be more helpful than you need to be. And DO NOT make yourself available when it's not necessary. Get the bag. That's it.