The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Never Clocking In Again: How I Got Fired, Raised Kids, and Built a Taxidermy Business On My Own Terms — coming 2027.
Chapter 1: Rough Around The Edges
My earliest memories of school are not of learning. They are of being sent home.
I was five years old. My birthday falls in November, so I began Kindergarten at five, making me the oldest in my class.
I did not want to do the work the teachers assigned. I wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to play with dolls, or go outside. When teachers asked me to build with the large wooden blocks, the ones nearly half my height, they expected a specific structure. I had other ideas. I wanted to build something of my own design.
When I did not follow their directions, I was told to stop. When I talked back, I was suspended. Yes, even in kindergarten back then you were suspended. I spent days at home while the other children sat at their desks. My mother would ask me why I could not simply comply. I did not have an answer. I was not trying to be difficult. I simply saw the world differently.
School was designed for children who could sit still and follow a prescribed path. That was not me. Even at five, I understood that I did not fit.
My First Job: Fourteen, in a Nursing Home
By fourteen, most of my peers did not have jobs. I did. I worked as a Dietary Aide in a nursing home, earning fourteen dollars an hour. To me, that felt like a significant accomplishment. My mother would drive me after school and drop me off. My responsibilities were straightforward: wash dishes, clean floors, pour beverages and meals for residents, and prepare items for the following day. I was efficient and diligent. For four months, I believed I was doing well. Then I was let go. The reason given was that I was not cleaning the floors to their standard. I received no additional training, no further instruction. I was simply dismissed.
I sat in my mother's car afterward, staring out the window. I felt embarrassed, frustrated, and confused. I had shown up every day. I had completed the tasks I was assigned. Yet it was not enough.
My Second Job: Reitmans
My next position was in retail at Reitmans. The role was customer service: greeting customers, folding clothing, and maintaining stock. It should have been simple. A group of other young employees would spend time talking when they were supposed to be working. I was not among them. I completed the tasks I was given. However, I was let go under the label of "guilty by association." I spoke to management. I explained that I was not part of the behavior in question and that I had fulfilled my duties. That conversation did not work in my favor. They did not want a fourteen-year-old questioning a decision. I was dismissed.
That moment felt harsh. I felt rejected, as though nothing I did was ever quite good enough.
By then, a pattern was forming. In school, I had upset teachers. At work, I had upset managers. I struggled to make and keep friends because my ideas rarely aligned with theirs. People around me seemed to think differently than I did. I was not disruptive for the sake of it. I enjoyed learning and working. But it had to be learning and work that I chose, not work that was chosen for me.
School was built for children who could sit still. Employment was built for young people who did not question authority. I was neither. I was rough around the edges. The world seemed determined to smooth them down. I did not break. I began to collect experiences, and in time, I would use them.
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