Episode Three: And Never the Two Shall Meet
As Ryan gets ready for his meeting with his prospective employer he’s trepidatious. Several months have passed and every single job opportunity he’d applied for had been returned with rejection. In most cases it was a stoney silence; in others there was the subtle change of tone over the telephone. Nevertheless, he’d become brow-beaten.
The meeting for the day is just to take the drug-screen. No problem, as Ryan doesn’t do drugs. The boss said that he could come in at any time during the day between 8am and 5pm; to make a good impression Ryan decides to show up at about the time that he’d be expected to arrive if/when hired. After cleaning up and getting dressed Ryan’s departure is paused by a telephone call — it’s his father. He wants him to come over and burn some brush in the back yard, his father will take care of getting the appropriate burning permit. Ryan explains that he’s going to be busy until around noon, but will be there.
Ryan reports to the jobsite, after a brief wait (the boss was on the phone) he’s brought in and a short meeting ensues. The boss explains the situation thusly: the company is taking on a new client, this client is notoriously fickle and isn’t giving a straight answer about whether they’re going to commit. Therefore, if the the client backs out, there’s no job. As a best-case scenario, though, the boss wants Ryan to take a drug-screen so that there will be no delays if the client joins and Ryan is offered the job — they should find out in a week or so. A small form is filled out and Ryan takes it to the Occupational Health office a few blocks down the street. Ryan notices the sign on the door, and throughout the waiting room: no cellphone conversations — anyone present for a drug screen must remain in the waiting room, if you leave the building you have to wait an additional minimum of 15 minutes. Ryan checks in with the clerk and takes a seat in the waiting room.
The his pants start vibrating. More specifically it’s his cellular telephone. Most specifically it’s his phone, on the cheapest plan known to man which only offers telephone service and voicemail. Ryan pulls out the phone and it’s cheap display showing only One Incoming Call. Ryan debates whether to ignore it, but then hits the Cancel button, to shunt the caller to voicemail. A moment later it vibrates again to indicate a new message. A minute later the phone rings again, which Ryan cancels again. Another message. The phone vibrates once a third time. Ryan starts to get worried that something’s very badly wrong, but he can’t take the call. So he cancels the call and turns the phone off. If it’s the same caller, who would be stupid enough to keep leaving messages when the phone never answers? If it’s a series of callers, why don’t they just leave a message and wait? If it’s an emergency … well, Ryan would find out soon enough.
After the drug screen Ryan leaves the building and pulls out his phone, turning it on. Once in the car he checks his message to find out the answer to the previous questions. Who? His father, of course. Message after message saying not to start the brush fire — the fire that Ryan said he wouldn’t be starting until two hours in the future — because the city requires a fire department official to survey the area and issue a permit. His father was concerned that Ryan was being arrested for starting a fire without a permit — despite the small detail that Ryan (repeatedly) pointed out earlier that morning — that he wouldn’t be starting the fire until around noon. It was almost 10:30am.
Ryan started to call his father back, but the only other feature of the cell-phone plan, call waiting, kicked in. So he took the call, it was his father. After a 10 minute conversation explaining, once again, that he had no intentions of starting the fire until he got there, and that still wouldn’t be for another 30 minutes at the earliest, and then explaining that he’d been unable to take the calls because he was trying to get a job.
Ryan let himself into his father’s house, changed clothes, and waited. At 12:30pm, or so, the fire department arrived, a deputy looked at the area and issued a burn permit and then they left. Ryan started the fire and tended it for the day, while also picking up a million tiny little rocks from the yard. A medium sized fire on a hot day is tiring enough, but also wandering the yard picking up rocks became quite exhausting. At the college service that night Ryan found himself hobbling a bit, and barely able to stay awake, but he made it through the service.
The week passes. Ryan’s actually rather happy — the weather is turning fall-like, his favorite season, and the wind is breezy, just like on all the old adventures he had growing up playing in the woods many years ago. After the following college service Ryan eventually makes his way home. Shawn, his best friend and roomate asks about any information on the job, which Ryan admits that he’s heard nothing. Shawn then informs him that the financial strain is becoming too much. He has 30 days to come up with rent, otherwise he’s on his own.