Breaking Up with Vancouver. Part 3.

Breaking Up With Blue Chip

Though I worked at this job for only one of my four years in UBC, it really came to define a lot of my university experience.

When I first applied, Blue Chip was just supposed to be my job. I would serve coffee for a few hours, get money, and leave. It wasn't really all that important to me that I make friends at work. I already had friends and I was tired of always being broke. I told myself that I would keep my head down, not get involved with people, and make some money. The vouchers would be a bonus too.

I think that whenever you plan on not getting involved, life surprises you.

To be honest, I don't know how I survived even the first semester of last year. I was doing ministry/music full time, working, and had a full course load. On top of all that I was desperately trying to get into Graduate school. I can't remember when I slept, or even if I did. In the midst of all that, Blue Chip shifts were the one time I knew that it was pointless to worry about my future or anything else. After all I was at work and I had to work.

The thing I'll always take away from that job is the feeling I had of being totally comfortable with who I was. I started coming out of my shell, wearing technicolor jeans, bandanas, and just being a genuine joy to work with (I'm assuming).

The lasting legacy of Blue Chip in my life is the friendships I made. Years from now I don't think I'll be proud of the lattes I made or the cookies I scooped or the coffee I brewed (or the customers I neglected). All the money I made there has been spent. What I'll always look back on is the shift that occurred in my life when my fellow Blue Chippers turned from coworkers to friends. In the middle of a stressful year I never failed to laugh and that made all the difference in the world.

Having said all that, here is what I won't miss:
I will not miss working my 7am-10am shift in first semester, then rushing to class and finding that a. I was late b. the only seats were in the back where I couldn't hear the prof and c. that all the keeners who had gotten there early to take up the good seats had blue chip cups with drinks in them that I made. I also knew none of them tipped me. Jerks.

I won't miss the way my uniform smelled by the end of the week.

I won't miss complicated orders (securrrityyy).

I won't miss being the only person in class eating a ton of Chinese food (hella vouchers, yo) and then falling asleep in the lecture (it happened once, ok).

I won't miss my profs coming to Blue Chip and me being all awkward and like "uuuuuhhh soo hey lemme get that coffee for you" and then hating myself for being so awkward.

I won't miss the classical music blasting in the morning that would send my heart rate racing to hummingbird levels.

I won't miss sifting through compost for plastic lids.

I will miss the little things:
The way me, Sef, and Brittany would freak out with joy when Unbreak my Heart came on the radio.

A 12oz Guatemala in a 16oz cup with honey and cream, and dropping by on my way to class for coffee and having a group of people excited to see me.

I'll miss smiling at the chairbo on my way into work (he's a guy who lives in the SUB, kind of like a hobo but he has a chair so he's a step up from a hobo).

I'll miss sneaking raw cookie dough, broken cookies, and chunks of white chocolate.

I'll miss Steph shouting my name so it sounded like a monosyllabic grunt ("KRrrrnn"). In addition I'll miss turning up to work only to find I was dressed identically with Steph.

I'll miss "producing" coffee with Jimmy and Katie.

I'll miss Ariel's iPod. Even that time she only played ska music.

I'll miss Saturday afternoons with Rachel making cinnamon apple deliciousness. And Big Scoooooop. And Sammy Jo's iPod full of Tay Swift and ABBA.

I'll miss Anna filling out shift request vouchers to hang out with me when I'm in town. "Reason for shift change request: Karen/burrs." I can't even imagine what the AMS must think of us.

I regret that I never got approval for my plan to turn Blue Chip into an after-hours nightclub called "The Chip". But people do call it "The Chip" sometimes, so I'll take credit for that and move on.

And I don't want to be vain, but I'm pretty sure Blue Chip will miss me too. I like to think that maybe someday next semester, a quiet kid will apply to work there and after a few months will be turning up to their shift in bright purple jeans. And maybe people will say "Hey, remember Karen. She was a good time."