Grandma’s Reaction to My First Job (and Other Digital Startup Woes)

The morning sun flickered across the gleaming Texas skyscrapers, sprinkling glitter across my eyes. Highway momentum marked the start of a milestone day. The customary humidity of early summer hung in the air, hinting at the heat to come.

I was off to my official first day of work as a young professional — and a newly minted graduate of a prestigious school. Granted, my selection of a Creative major was not the most obvious bankable choice. However, I was lucky enough to snag a full time position after working part time at the same company through my final years at university.

The hire was immediate. I had no celebratory break to take a breath and explore my freedom after achieving the degree. Rather, the job started so soon that my Grandmother and Father were still in town after attending my graduation.

On this day, they and my Mother decided to mark the occasion by driving me to my first day at work.

Granted, I had been to work many times before during my part-time work pre-graduation.  So to me it seemed more of a continuation than a milestone. However, on this day my parents beamed from the front seat with excited pride to drive me… as if it was as thrilling as my first day at Kindergarten. I was a little embarrassed.

On we flew through the balmy air, as I gave directions from the back seat. Next to me, my Grandmother marveled out of the window at the light flickering off the high-rises. She looked on with similar anticipation to see my first place of real work. After years of encouraging me that I had the power to do anything I wanted with my life… to achieve more than she ever had opportunity to do as a woman in rural America… this was momentous.

We swept through the sparkling downtown and kept moving. With each turn, business districts turned into tree-lined lanes. Next, we passed warehouses and aging gas stations. Those then turned into a dense residential apartment district in the cheaper side of town. 

Pulling into one of the lots, we were greeted by lines of car ports, and a run-down, low-ceilinged apartment built with 1970’s flair (or lack thereof).

“This is it!”, I announced cheerfully. But I noticed the smile drain from my Grandmother’s face.

Wrinkled lips pursed slightly. She blurted, “Is this it?”, mirroring my words with an incredulous tinge. Meanwhile, craning to see whether the building was any taller than 2 stories.

Ok, this place clearly was not the high-rise, gleaming office building she had envisioned. This wasn’t a proper office at all. I was going to work at someone’s apartment??

This was not her expectation.  Her disappointment, and nearly dismay, was apparent. I saw her worry rise, as if wondering whether this was even a safe place for me.  Immediately I was self-conscious, though my parents still had smiling pride on their faces. Just to have a full-time job immediately after graduation — well, this was a feat not many could claim.

But for Grandma… how could she possibly understand that I was entering the forefront of digital? That this environment… the proverbial “technology start up in an apartment”… was the way so many thought leaders started their empires and soon built their fortunes?

That was sexy. And I was going to do the same. But it went beyond that… we were going to CHANGE THE WORLD through the internet. We, the web builders, had visions of how the internet would become more than rainbow bars and patterned backgrounds… how we and it would change society itself. For better, no less. 

This was the 90s. The new world of the digital startup had begun. We were on the threshold of greatness!

But this place…  it was not sexy. AT ALL. From the tile roof and burnt orange stucco walls, to the streaky mold stains near the foundation, and the leaning car ports to protect against the Texas-sized hail. Not sexy enough for Grandma.

But yet I swallowed my awkward pride and left the car to head to my adventure.  And with a wave over my shoulder, that was it… the beginning of my Digital Deliria. A world of hot summers and floundering file servers, to scooters whizzing ‘round concrete floors, and in-office zen gardens. A burgeoning existence my Grandmother would never live to understand.

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As always, I hope you enjoyed this and it brightened your day.

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• Category: Early Internet, On The Job