Game Start! Draw A Role
Photo by Atharva Tulsi on Unsplash Taken by the railroad near my High school during a cloudy after the first day of snow. It was a moody and dark scene set by the dead trees and shrubs. Source:
“Are you done?”
I hesitated for a moment and replied, “Yes…”
The interviewer wore a serious expression and said, “You missed a rule in what you just explained. You didn’t mention…”
I had already forgotten which rule I had missed at that moment. If I remember correctly, it was a board game called “Bang!”, and I had been explaining its game rule for about 15 minutes to pass the interview. Despite feeling nervous mixed with excitement, I was conceited that after a week of preparation, I had performed exceptionally well, and there wouldn’t be any issues to be concerned about.
Well, just as I was feeling proud of myself, the interviewer began to criticize and pointed out two specific rules that I had missed.
“Drop it,” I told myself after undergoing such a rigorous interview.
I pondered, “After all, all I wanted was a part-time job. I wished to continue nurturing my passion for music and have the time to play my guitar every day. If applying for a part-time position requires such meticulous attention to detail in the rules, I really don’t know why I would want to work here…”
Maybe, is the place conveniently close to home? Or maybe, it is because of my interest in games? Regardless, I was simply hoping to continue playing my guitar, enjoy more leisure time, and combine my previous year’s experience in restaurant service with my love for games. I wanted to maintain my carefree life with a modest income.
As I grappled with the immense pressure from the interviewers and tried to calm my emotions over the course of a week, something unexpected happened.
“Ding, ding, ding—ding—, ding, ding, ding—ding—, ding, ding, ding—ding—ding—.” The Nokia ringtone on my phone played, and I answered the call, presuming it was to inform me that everything had concluded.
“Hello! Is this Brian?” The voice on the phone belonged to another shareholder who had interviewed me at the time.
“Yes, it’s me!”
The shareholder continued, “I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to intern with us on weekends, and then we can see how it goes from there…”
Huh? Is this for real? Hadn’t I performed poorly during the interview and been teased mercilessly? How had it suddenly evolved into them wanting me to become a reserve manager? Moreover, I didn’t want to be a reserve manager! Wasn’t the position I had interviewed for a part-time job? It was really strange; what exactly was this store doing?
After a week of emotional roller-coaster rides, with not enough bullets in my pocket to cover my living expenses, and considering that the difficulty of running a board game store didn’t seem too high for me, I chose to accept the position.
Work began, and it happened to be during the winter vacation. I found that the board game store wasn’t particularly busy on weekdays. With Thick-as-thieves, our former manager known for being a real charmer, speaking candidly, Hou-Hou—is part of his Chinese name—, we sailed through the busiest period of the year at the store without a hitch. After that, it was my turn to stand alone, facing moments when almost no one came to the store.
From here began a journey as a board game store manager that lasted for more than nine years. In reality, at that time, I thought I might last for only a year or two. With the Off the beaten track board game store, the day of closure shouldn’t be too far away. What I was truly worried about, and the only thing I was worried about, was that I had just left my previous job at a restaurant – a place I really loved. Due to long-term financial difficulties, the owner ultimately decided to close the business, and I had to draw a new line there.
Now, I had just become a manager, and not long after that, another store closed down due to my bad luck or poor choice. How significant of a blemish would this be in my life?
I was in a state of confusion, not knowing what to do…
To be continued…