A Nanny and a Flower Girl

My roommate and I have now been happily removed from the unemployment list. As I read an article in Maui Time last night on unemployment I couldn't help but be a little discouraged. The economy out here relies almost entirely on tourism, and with people trying to pinching their pennies in the face of the slumping economy, fewer and fewer people have been visiting the island. Over the course of the last year the unemployment rate on Maui has gone up by 20%.

I got in with the Nanny Connection within my first two weeks of moving home, but because of all of the red tape surrounding child care work I wasn't able to start working until this week. Now that I've taken CPR and First Aid classes, had a criminal background check, and had three reference checks I'm able to start going on childcare jobs. My first gig was yesterday and I'm booked to watch two children tomorrow at the Sheraton. I'm still amazed that I'm getting paid so much to hang out with kids... something that I would often be willing to do for free. If it weren't for the occasional set of high maintenance parents, this would absolutely be my dream job.

I'm also planning on going into BJ's later to see if they'll still be needing a hostess when March rolls around. My first job, when I was 16 years old and brand new to the island, was as a hostess at BJ's and I believe that's it's raised my expectations for any future job that I may have. I've never had so much fun at any of my jobs since. My best friends and I would go to Lahainaluna during the day and run the front desk at BJ's at night with an amazing bunch of people. The job was always more fun than it was work.

Jordan's been hired by a friend of a friend to work as a flower girl selling leis up and down the Westside. Her job is to carry a basket of fresh leis around Lahaina, Ka'anapali, and Kapalua, and she gets paid based on the number of leis she's able to sell, but so long as she smiles and says aloha the leis will basically sell themselves. She's not one of those salespeople that pester you as you walk by... you know the ones I'm talking about that want to smear seasalt on your hand or straighten your hair with their fabulous hot iron. It seems like a good fit for her and I have a feeling that she's going to do really well at it.