Story 13
Todd goes to the mall with his sister and ends up getting a new job.
Job Shopping
Hannah Bome pulled up in front of her parents’ house and went inside. As she walked in, she said, “Hey little brother, are you ready to go?” Hannah was 18 and she lived about 20 miles away. Her mother was at work, so her brother was the only one home.
Todd walked up to her and stood about one inch away. He looked down at his “big” sister and said, “Who you calling little?” At 6'2˝ tall, he towered 10 inches over Hannah’s head. Then Todd put his hands under Hannah’s arms and picked her up. Now, her head was a little higher than Todd’s. Todd said, “What did you say, big sister?”
Hannah squirmed and said, “Put me down.”
Todd laughed, raised her up a little higher. Then, he set her back down and said, “Whatever you say, BIG sister.”
Again, Hannah asked, “Are you ready to go?”
Todd said, “Go, Joe. Don’t be slow, Mo.”
“What is up with you today, Todd? You are being really odd.” Hannah laughed as she talked.
“Oh, I get it. Odd Todd. Prod the clod. You are so funny.”
Hannah laughed again. “Me? Funny? I don’t think anyone here is funny.”
“Your laughter says you think someone is funny. And, we both know I’m the funny one. So laugh on, Han-My-Fan-from-the-Clan.”
“Oh my gosh! You really have it bad today,” Hannah said, laughing again. She headed out to the car and Todd followed. In the car, she said, “Let’s go to the clothes and tech stores at Rose Mall. It’s easier than going around to all different stores. Is that OK with you?”
“Sure. Everyone will say ‘His hard drive froze so he chose to go to Rose!’ ” he smiled his “Mr. Cool” smile and arched his eyebrows.
Hannah shook her head and bugged her eyes, but didn’t say a word. When they got to the mall, they decided to go to Macy’s first. An hour later, they both had four things they wanted to buy. Todd had been saving cash for the shopping trip, so he paid in cash. Hannah used her credit card. As they were leaving Macy’s, they bumped into Dr. Matt Franks, Jr., their eye doctor. He asked Todd how his new contacts were working out. After they walked on, Hannah said, “My, my. I am so surprised. You didn’t talk to Dr. Franks in rhyme. What happened? Cat get your rhyming tongue?”
Todd said, “No cat. My chat with Matt was just flat.”
“Help me!” Hannah groaned. Then she noticed a sign on a store window. “Hey, aren’t you looking for a job? If you could keep yourself from talking in rhyme, these people might hire you.”
Todd read the flyer. “They want someone to start in a week. That would be perfect for me. And, the mall is close to our house. I found a couple jobs in the paper last night. But they were clear over by you. I don’t want to have to drive that far. I’m going to go in and ask about the job.”
“Remember, no rhyme.”
“Don’t fret, my pet!”
Todd walked into the store. He asked to talk to someone about the job. A clerk told him, “Did you see the arrow on the flyer? The job is at Boys Toys upstairs.”
Todd went back out and looked at the sign again. He said to Hannah, “Boys Toys would be the perfect place for me to work!”
“I’ll say. You can have fun there. And you won’t get thrown out if you start talking in rhyme.” Todd talked to Mr. Shan, the manager at Boys Toys. Mr. Shan asked him if he had time for an interview right then. Todd said he did and made a plan to meet Hannah at the food court.
About 30 minutes later, Todd met Hannah in the food court. Todd said, “You are looking at a Boys Toys guy on a wired hired high.”
“Are you saying that you got the job?”
“Oh, yes I am, Hannah Banana. I start on Monday.”
“Way to go, little brother!”
“What did you call me?”
“OK, OK. Don’t pick me up, Tall Brother. Anyhow, I’ve never been in that store. What do they sell at Boys Toys?”
“What do you think they sell?” Todd laughed. “They sell toys for boys. I go there all the time. They have some of the coolest computer games. And, they have a lot of sports stuff, really neat notebooks, wild money clips, and other things that guys like to have.”
“Don’t you think girls would like some of that stuff, too?” Hannah asked.
“Well, yes, but everything in this store is very boyish. For example, there is not a single pink tennis racket. There are no notebooks with flowers. It is nice shopping without all the girly stuff around. Just wait. Someday someone will open a Girls Pearls store—and you will love it! What am I saying? There are already lots of stores like that. For example, that place you get your hair ribbons is like that. There isn’t a thing in there for guys.”
Hannah said, “I guess you are right, Mod Todd. And, heaven knows, you need a place to buy cool guy things. After all, you’ve got an image to keep up.”
What do you think?
- Say you were looking for computer stores in a mall. Under what category do you think they would be listed on the mall directory?
- Explain why being socially aware would keep Todd from chanting little rhymes in his interview.
What would you do?
- Since Todd had to get a new hard drive for his computer, he also had to reset his computer password. If you were setting up a new computer, what would you use for a password? Make sure to choose something that you can easily remember and that has at least six letters or numbers.
Life Skills in This Story:
- Using a mall directory
- Being socially aware
- Creating a computer password you can remember
- Controlling credit card levels
- Understanding wants versus needs
- Anticipating consequences
- Understanding titles that go with names
- Searching for job options
- Reading arrows
- Understanding jokes
- Interpreting idioms
- Reading job ads
- Exploring situation-appropriate speech/actions
- Interviewing for a job
- Recognizing proper posture
