Andrew made it to Vancouver waay before school started. The deal he made with his dad and me is that we could secure the studio apartment for August 15, but he had to find a part-time job before school started on October 25. Part of the rationale for renting an apartment that early is that there is tough competition within renters among all the students attending the various Vancouver post-secondary institutions.
Well, The Boy did not let us down. He had experience working as a customer service representative at an Ottawa supermarket, assembling the produce for display. I thought he would get a similar job, but he surprised us all when he secured a job at an army surplus and air-gun store. It was most surprising because he was never that kid who wore camo, or ran around with toy guns, or pointed anything at anyone. He walked into the local Vancouver business, showed the owner his resume from his phone, and suddenly he had a trial shift.
When Andrew called me to tell me where he worked, I was stunned and shocked, and he must have sensed that because he assured me, "Don't worry, ma, I am not near the guns or knives."
I now know he took the job because it was a mere 3-minute walk from his apartment and he also added that the Afghani owner was very nice. A few weeks into the job, Andrew sent me some photos of him holding a fake rifle and also some pictures of seasonal slutty Halloween costumes that he had to capture by photo because he had never been exposed to such costumes in our cushy upper-middle-class neighbourhood back home.
PHOTO description: The first photo is a picture Andrew sent me from his part-time job. He was stocking the store with Halloween costumes.
The second photo I received by text from Andrew from work, it shows him with a fake rifle.
