Printer-friendly version

It was the best of times yet it was the wurst of times. As she watched her stepfather at the grill she reflected that this might be her last summer in Sheboygan, tomorrow she would be departing for her new job in D.C. As she relaxed she enjoyed the taste of the brats, beer and sauerkraut, her mind wondered back over the journey that her life had taken to this point. Just twenty two yet she had completed her masters at UWM.

She had been recruited in her senior year of undergrad work, and the company had paid off her student loans along with tuition, books, room and board for her masters. She planed to take several extra days to travel east, after all what you do and see on your way is more important that just getting to your destination. First a day at The Big Gig, this year was the fortieth anniversary and it promised to be special. She had tickets to both the Steely Dan concert and Def Leppard with Foreigner and Styx for the next night's show.

She had never thought of working for the company as she grew up, that might be a boy’s dream, not hers. She remembered the odd way she had been approached, she had just sat down to enjoy an evening of improve at the Gasthaus in the student union’s lower level. As she sat at her table, a Eurasian woman of indeterminate age approached her and asked for a moment of her time, She knew that Rikki would be attending tomorrow’s career fair, and she said that her sponsors would like Rikki to consider them. As they parted she was told that "before you do anything, mail this number to yourself at your home. This summer, you will think back upon what we are offering you, if you find yourself changing your mind we want you to have that number..."