joanie smith had been the prettiest girl and most popular person in her high school class, class president, and was voted person most likely to succeed.
the class had not been that large - only thirteen students, nine girls and four boys - and the town itself - morrisvillle in the west central district of the american heartland - was not that large. but even so, joanie was disappointed that she did not find better success when she made her way to the imperial capital after graduation.
after taking a room at the imperial young ladies hostel, joanie decided to seek a job as a waitress in one of the large restaurants in the city. she had waitressed for six years when still in school in morrisville, so she thought it would be a stress free job that would support her while she pursued her real avocation as a theoretical sociologist and wrote her first book, which would make her famous.
joanie was shocked to find that there was intense competition for even such jobs as waitressing. on her first day in the city she went to a employment agency and was told to leave her name and phone number and a resume and they might call her back in three weeks at the earliest.
after some hesitation she complied with this outrageous request, quickly tapping out the “resume” on her phone.
she did not apply to another agencies. she decided to bypass the agency and go directly to restaurants and apply directly for jobs.
but she dd not have much success. most of the restaurants told her they only hired through agencies and in some places the person she talked was nice enough to give her the name of the agency they used.
the smaller places often told her they were family owned and did not hire non-family members. for some reason joanie found this particularly discouraging.
joanie began to feel downhearted. per imperial edict, she could only stay in the young ladies hostel for twenty-eight days, and she had already used up half of them.. she began to wonder if she could make it in the imperial city, and if she would ever fulfill her dream of becoming a world famous sociologist.
the ladies hostel had a small old fashioned lobby with big padded chairs and potted plants, and a small cafeteria which sold coffee, tea, and pastries and was open all night. most of the inhabitants of the establishment spent their time in their rooms with their phones and tvs, but a few spent time in the lobby or cafeteria and after her first week joanie began joining them.
after a particularly discouraging day, joanie was sitting in the cafeteria sipping a cup of oolong tea, and not nibbllng on a raspberry tart she had decided not to spend money on, when she was joined by a young woman she had not seen before. not seen, and not just not noticed. because she would have noticed her.
“hello, the young woman said. “my name is ruby.”
“hi, i’m joanie.”
it was understood that if you sat in the lobby or the cafeteria that you were open to such direct approach. it was what the lobby and cafeteria were there for. even groups of two or more might be interrupted by strangers introducing themselves.
ruby was covered from head to foot, including her face, with tattoos. her shirt and pants also had tattoo-looking pictures on them, so it took joanie a couple of seconds to realize that she was in fact wearing clothes and was not naked.
“i haven’t seen you before, “ ruby said. “just get here?”
’no, i’ve been here for almost two weeks,” joanie said. “but, um, most nights i’ve been too tired to do anything but go up to my room and sleep. looking for a job, you know?”
“a good looking girl like you? you should find work easy. “
joanie sighed. “well, i haven’t, i don’t know what to tell you.”
ruby took a sip of the coffee she had brought with her. “what are looking to do? actress? model? can you sing or dance?”
“no, i was just looking for a job as a waitress.”
“ a waitress! honey, that’s stupid. every slob and nonentity wants to be a waitress - it’s what you do if you can’t be anything else.”
joanie blushed slightly. “i thought i could waitress to support myself while i followed… while i did what i want to do.”
“yes, that’s what they all think. if they lived in the woods with the bears. you come from a small town, honey?”
“yes, i do. pretty small.” she gave ruby a very brief description of morrisville.
ruby shook her head. “whatever. but like i started to say, it doesn’t work that way. starting out slow, taking your time. whatever you want to do, you have to just go for it. go for the jugular,”
“you are probably right,” joanie agreed.
“but what was it that you wanted to do? you still haven’t said.”
“i want to be a theoretical sociologist.”
“a what?”
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