// by Nate Rifkin
“If you don’t start finishing on time, we’ll find someone who will.”The entire load team sat in a meeting room facing Ted.For weeks, we’d been dragging ass. Never mind that we were already understaffed and trailing further behind as the company grew.We’d never once finished a shift in …
Out Of The Frying Pan – Into The Fire – Origin Story Part 32Read More
// by Nate Rifkin
“These are the towels they wipe baby’s asses with!” Jesus said, with an impish smile on his face.I perched atop the lift gate of a truck, grabbing little, wet towels by hand from a giant basket and tossing them into a bag a few feet below. They stunk of hospital disinfectant. “Yeah, yeah, …
// by Nate Rifkin
As soon as I saw the audio files manifest in my DropBox folder, I saved them to my MP3 player. Then I drove to work.Just the day before, I’d reached out to my friend Jason for some help (same guy I got the business loan from). For years, he’d made a living by building websites and online …
Making Money On The Phone With A Business – Origin Story Part 30Read More
// by Nate Rifkin
Saturday morning. I slept in, soaking up the little taste of luxury… and then got out of bed for my meditations.Something felt off.I couldn’t quite put my finger on it… until I got online, checked my bank balance… … and saw something that made my stomach turn into an aching stone A charge …
Crying On The Phone With My Bank – Origin Story Part 29Read More
// by Nate Rifkin
As I prepared for bed after my first day (and night) of work, I took a single melatonin pill…… and then lay in my bed, wired almost to the point of shaking. As if I’d just awoken in the morning and drank a pot of coffee. Even though it was past 2AM. So I took another melatonin… … and lay in …
Losing Sleep, Dragging Bags, Soaking in Grime – Origin Story Part 28Read More
// by Nate Rifkin
One week after I was officially hired, I returned to the same warehouse at 2PM, ready to take on my new career.Two in the afternoon was my new workday’s “morning.”And unlike a typical 9-5, there wasn’t an official end to a day’s shift. The load team stopped only for one reason:We loaded …
// by Nate Rifkin
“I’m only going to show you this once,” said Ted.Salvador and I stood at attention amid the warehouse’s chaos. Around us, workers unloaded trucks… dragged rows of clothes along rails… and giant bags zipped overhead. I barely took any of the action in, as I focused on the task ahead.Ted …
Weirdest Job Interview I’ve Had – Origin Story Part 26Read More
// by Nate Rifkin
I sat in my car, watching snow whip around the nearly-empty library parking lot.Did I screw up? Maybe the open interviews were cancelled?I decided I could only wait and wonder… until I saw the library finally open 5 minutes before 12PM, and people showed up in droves. Suddenly, my worries …
Competing for a Truck-Loading Job – Origin Story Part 25Read More
// by Nate Rifkin
While scrambling through Craigslist for a full-time, easy-ass job to pay the bills… I thought I hit paydirt:Marijuana trimmer.After conferring with some co-workers (who had extensive knowledge of the field), trimming marijuana plants is apparently a big enough deal that it necessitates crews …
Applying to be a Denver Marijuana Trimmer – Origin Story Part 22Read More