About two months ago, I sent out letters to the two employers that I have hurt due to my excess gaming. Everyone loved the letter and now understood why I did what I did. Here is the letter that I wrote to Community General Hospital:
Dear Food Service Department,
It has been several years since I last saw you people. What I did four years ago was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life when I walked out on you. All of these years, I thought about that, and all the other things that I did there e.g. mocking the checker, placing the wrong items on the trays, not wearing gloves, using too much chemicals, and it just never sat right with me. I aEUoefoughtaEU you people by acting like Gandhi because I wanted to be free from working there. In turn, I interpreted you as the enemy. Yes, you people, at times, acted like jerks, but I knew you did that in a constructive way, not to mention all the stress you people endure on a day-to-day basis, but you were really not bad people at all, and the conditions were not that bad, I might add.
All that time that I worked there, I was my own enemy. I never really prepared myself for life after high school. Growing up, I spent most of my time watching TV, playing video games, and, whenever I could, surf the Internet, very religiously. I was comfortable with that lifestyle, and I did not want to let that go. But when I graduated high school and got this job, the rules drastically changed. I had no time anymore to do these things that I enjoyed, and that is what made me depressed. I should have seen a counselor about this, and other issues when I started working there.
I was very reluctant to see a counselor at the time since I did not want you, or other people, to think I was insane. From all of the past two years that I have talked to my counselor, I came to realize that I was never insane. All my actions that I have committed there at Community General Hospital, and all other places and times in my life, were insane. I've also explored with my counselor the true meaning of hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and commitment not only in the American work force, but in life. When I discussed this, I came to realize that my job at Community General was just a job that brought me income to pay bills, save for the future, and to buy things that I enjoy. Often times, when I was working there, I had such a negative attitude about the job and employment in general. From thinking about that, most people, and especially, our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, would have not called a job like that menial, unintelligent, or prison, they would call it opportunity, and that is how I should have interpreted my job there.
I still could not believe that it took countless number of reprimands, a broken collarbone, getting terminated from two jobs, my company that I was making money with, StudioTraffic, going under, did not wake me up, but it took a whitewater rafting trip to open my eyes and realize what is going on in the world. When I was on the Black River back on Labor Day last year, I ended up realizing that I had enough bravery to do what I did there at Community General, and be a hero in the virtual world, but I barely had enough bravery to go down that river, which would have been a potentially life threating situation. As a result, in introspection, I need to be a hero to me in the real world. I need to take more reasonable risks that would help me live a good life.
These days, I'm still attending Syracuse University, and I'm also now working two different jobs there along side my studies. One my jobs that I'm working now is as an intramural official for Recreation Services. Along side my counseling, I consider this job to be my other therapy since it helps me learn how to control my emotions in rough situations. Despite the seasonal nature of the job, I really do enjoy officiating intramural sports. The other job that I'm working is at the concessions stands at the Carrier Dome whenever there is a game or other event. I ended up getting a behind-the-scenes look on how everything goes down inside the stands. That job is a really good job for me since I get to see the game for free, and get a free meal, too.
These days, I now take full appreciation about employment. I have a much better attitude about being an employee. I've learned a lot about work and life over these past four years since my big mistake of walking out. My cousin Brian once told me that employment is a learning experience, and that has been so true. To close, I do want to apologize to everyone that has been hurt by my actions, and I hope you will forgive me. We were all hurt by all of my negative actions that I committed when I was working there.
Sincerely,
Orange44
I had enough bravery to capture Premier Romanov, I had enough bravery to destroy Megalith, but I barely had enough bravery to go down the Black River.