Handkerchief on a stick, worn shoes, and a can of beans.

I'm jobless.

The hours for my old desk are a first-come first-serve thing since I'm a student worker, and I couldn't get the ones I needed. I've been there almost 2 years, and suddenly I'm gone. It was an enjoyable job most of the time, and I'm going to miss it.

A part-time job is the one thing that makes me feel apart from a lot of the people at LSU. There's an unusually high population of spoiled kids. It's not all their fault; they're Lafayette imports who have never had to work because their parents are comfortable. I don't have to work, but I do have to work if I don't want to feel like a complete bum.

Mom and Dad tell me to relax and enjoy my last year and a half of college. My idea of enjoying it is learning a little more every day what it means to be a REAL adult. Of course I'm not there yet, but keeping a job is important to me, because it makes me feel like I won't be afraid of hard work later.

I don't want to fall screaming into the world of grownup-ness right after graduation. I'd like to be calm, prepared and confident. God, I'm a bum. I'm a huge bum.