The last presidential election, when Obama was elected to his first term, also happened to be the week that training began for my seasonal job at the International Spy Museum. Fits really well into a long list of ministry and school related jobs doesn't it? I found the job posting on Craigslist, after deciding to move home for three months in preparation for moving into the back of a church (located in a previous furniture store), in February of that next year. Yep, THAT sounds more like me.
There is nothing more confidence boosting than learning how to take fifteen strangers from around the world on a one hour interactive tour to retrieve a nuclear triggering device in the fictional country of Khandar....multiple times a day.
I thought I was going to quit the first day when our manager told us the interactive had motion simulators. That is, until the lunch break when a phone call to my mom reminded me that I had grown up since being a kid on amusement park rides and I should probably just give it a try.....I didn't quit and it turned out to be awesome.
I loved the commute into D.C. The massive amounts of strangers that I had the opportunity to talk to. I didn't love that winter was cold and the bus stop outside my house in the dark, was even colder. But I loved that I was getting this amazing story out of it, so I pressed on.
And D.C. had an incredible energy at the time. One of hope and change and promise. People were maybe a little nicer, a little more united. That is, until all the tourists came in for the inauguration.....whew.
We are made up of the bits and pieces of our stories and experiences. I am incredibly thankful for my time at the Spy museum.... that all those people are now a part of my story.
I learned a lot about espionage, I developed an irrational fear of nuclear warfare, and I remember fondly my co-workers who I still keep tabs on. We laughed a lot. We were thrown into crazy situations almost everyday. I developed "tour guide" hands where I point and move my arms to make my case stronger. And when I can't sleep at night, even four years later, I start to think through the lines. I can still do the opening monologue....you should ask me about it sometime.