Applying for Taxi Driver

When I was processing the tension between taking aggressive action and waiting on God in the job search, journeying through the joblessphere, I remembered a very significant series of events that completely changed the entire course of my life.

It was the summer of 1980. I had just finished my first year of Seminary and was out in Everett WA, staying with my parents and looking for a summer job. My parents had recently moved to Washington and I knew absolutely no one. Not knowing where else to start, I picked up a local newspaper to look at the "Want Ads" for a job. The only thing promising, aside from the "earn $5000 per month from home sitting on the deck" ads were a couple ads for taxi driver. I made the calls.

The person on the other end of the line asked me, "How well do you know Everett?" I decided honesty was the best policy. After all I was a Seminarian.

I answered, "Not very well."

"How about Seattle?" the interrogator asked. I answered, "Not as well as Everett."

Expecting a laugh and rejection I was surprised to hear him say, "Come down, fill out an application and we'll see what we can do." Again, this was in 1980, WAY before GPS. So I looked up the taxi company address and drove to their office to apply.

After filling out the application, I turned the wrong way out of the driveway. When I realized my mistake, I discovered I was by the local high school. That sparked a thought that had to be from someone other than me. What I really wanted for a summer job was what I had spent summers doing before - teaching swimming and lifeguarding. I turned into the high school parking lot looking for the gym or swimming pool area.

The school was obviously closed for the summer and no one seemed to be there, except that I found one door open, the door near the gym. I went in and found a man inside an office behind a glass window. He looked surprised to see me and asked, "Can I help you?"

I told him I was a student looking for a summer job and wondered if he knew of any jobs as a lifeguard or swimming instructor. There was no pool in sight so I felt really stupid. Maybe this was the custodian.

He told me he was the retired swimming coach for the school, but knew of no jobs. I thanked him and turned to leave when he said, "Hey. Why don't I take your name and number just in case I hear of something." So I gave him my name and number which he jotted on a scrap of paper and put it on his desk. I felt kind of foolish and thought, "Well that was an interesting wild-goose chase." Little did I know what was to follow. I continued to look, pray and pursue jobs.

In the meantime, there was a Washington State lifeguard team at the State Park nearby that was unable to find the fourth member of their team. State Lifeguard positions were in very high demand since they paid the best, but despite their best efforts, they could not find anyone even interested. In frustration, Janet, the Head Lifeguard finally called her old swimming coach, pleading with him to help her find a lifeguard.

 Her old swimming coach? Yes. It was the man who had dropped into the PE office at the local high school - for 5 minutes - intersected with this Seminary student from Minnesota who was there applying for Taxi Driver, got turned around and just "happened" to find this man and he just "happened" to write his name down - my name.

This coach told Janet he needed to go back to the high school to see if he could find that scrap of paper. By the time I received the phone call, I had applied, and accepted another job, an absolutely miserable position. Hey, I had to DO something, right? This position was way outside Everett and included lodging. I was on a day off, at my parent's home in Everett when the job enquiry came that led to the job as a Washington State lifeguard.

Now why was this so life-changing? Because of this job, I met Judi, my wife. No I didn't meet her at the beach, I met her in church. Isn't that where every Seminarian should meet his wife? That's another story and is a lot longer than this one - even my version!

So what lesson did I learn that applies to any and every person who is out of work and seeking God for the next step? I got this job as I was applying for taxi driver. There is nothing wrong with being a taxi driver. I was moving, perhaps in the wrong direction, but moving forward none-the-less.

So as I go forward in my joblessphere, I am "Applying for Taxi Driver," so to speak, knowing that as I initiate, move forward and look at all options, God will intersect me at the right creative moment and lead me into the next season.