Job Description: Enjoy Sipping Wine and Drinking Margaritas with the Elderly

The smell of wild meat sizzling on the grill was in the air along with the spicy smell of jambalaya, gumbo and other Creole favorites. I loved the food, however it was New Years 2000 and I could think of a million other places I would rather be than a backyard deer barbeque in Baton Rouge Louisiana. I was feeling completely out of place in my periwinkle suede jacket trimmed in long white fur with a pair of grey knit gloves and high heel caramel suede boots. The other partygoers were in the typical southern redneck clothing consisting of jeans and a flannel shirt under a plain old work jacket and a pair of boots, or something similar. I gripped my hurricane, mixed redneck style in a large plastic cup with a straw and sipped at it constantly while mingling and looking for someone to have a conversation with. I didn’t hunt nor did I watch NASCAR or football, so joining into any of the many conversations already started was not going to happen. Everyone was drunk and rowdy as we counted down to midnight and the fireworks started going off. “Bang, Bang!” Did some idiot really just shoot a gun into the air? How on earth did I get here? Last year we spent New Years ’99 at a massive warehouse party in San Bernardino, CA. Partying with thousands of others all dressed in outrageous costumes and party wear, ready to have a blast. It was spectacular. The room was dark, the lights were bright and you could feel the vibrations of the music through the air. If only the DJs would stop re-mixing Princes “1999” song, the night would be perfect. We danced and partied all night, feeling a little like vampires as we squinted our eyes and held our hands up to block the bright early morning sun as walking out to our cars the next morning.

The transition from San Diego to Baton Rouge was too big of a change, so we decided to give Austin Texas a chance. Austin, surprisingly enough, was not anything like I imagined it would be. The capital of Texas has an intriguing mix of liberal, hippy and environmental friendly population mixed with the high tech, yuppie and conservative type. Austin had plenty of parks, hike and bike trails, clean lakes for water sports and live music. Austin is referred to as the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’ for a reason. They hold two large music festivals each year, Austin City Limits and SXSW (South by South West), plus have free Blues on the Greens every other Thursday all summer long and live music at most of the local restaurants and bars. This unique city’s motto is “Keep Austin Weird” as they attempted to keep most big chains to the outskirts so local “mom and pop” shops and restaurants can thrive in the city center. Austin also has its share of large high tech companies for employment.

I was really good at looking for jobs at this point since we moved so much. After interviewing with Adecco staffing agency, I was immediately offered a temporary receptionist position at an Assisted Living Home the next week. I hate being a receptionist. For years I held positions as a Sales Assistant, Assistant to the Director of Tech Support and QA, and Executive Assistant, so being a receptionist felt like a step backwards. But it was only a temporary position, so I forced a smile and accepted it in an effort to look like a good team player. Hopefully my next position would be something a little more interesting.

Everyday I worked hard, always smiling and answering the phones in a friendly, professional manner and after less than a week, I was offered the position of Activities Director. I had never held a position like that before. In fact I had never worked with the elderly before, but with only 2 weeks training I dove right in. I was given complete creative freedom. Each day was filled with the many of the basic activities you would expect in an assisted living home, like bingo, morning exercise, crossword puzzles, coffee and ice cream socials, arts and crafts and outside entertainment, but we were unique with events like margarita parties and a huge gala each month. Twice a year we had a wine and cheese party, we also celebrated with holiday theme parties and other fun events. Halloween was a Costume party and Christmas and Thanksgiving Dinner were both magnificent feasts. I had a lot of fun decorating and planning an Under the Sea Picnic and Dance. Helen, one of my quirkiest and fun loving residents, loved the Back to the 50’s party complete with music from a jukebox, a burger and fries that came out in Cadillac shaped paper containers and root beer floats. Molly, Edith, Helen and other residents reminisce about their weddings while eating wedding cake and sipping on champagne at the Remember Your Wedding Party. What a blast this job was! How many people get paid to throw parties? My job description: enjoy sipping wine and drinking margaritas with the elderly.

Picture found Here.