It’s my big day.  Maybe I can finally make a difference in this world. The warm and freshly mopped  McDonalds gives off an aroma of the classic deep fried food smell. The restaurant beeps its non-alarming chimes as the fast food becomes ready.  I stand there in line timidly trying not to be noticed, trying to fit in.  This never seems to work, though.  The sizzling fries and swirling vanilla ice cream looks so appetizing, I wish I could afford them.  Maybe after today I will be able to, just maybe.
No matter how hard I try, people can always pick me out of a crowd even children.  A little toddler girl about 5 feet away stares at me with wonder, as if I am not even human.  I give her a grin just so she knows I am acknowledging her looking at me.  Her eyebrow crinkles and her little tinkerbell sneakers light up as she steps back away from me into her mom, hugging her legs to feel safe and secure.  Her mom notices her little girl’s embrace and follows her stare until her sharp eyes meet mine, which pierces my soul.  I feel her criticizing me with each subtle move I make; her face filled with disgust as she looks me up and down.   She rolls her eyes as she shuffles her daughter to her opposite side, so she is further away from me.  It’s as if she views me as a possum, thinking I am dead -like road kill- to society, useless and unimportant.
I feel so uncomfortable that I just want to curl up into a ball to avoid her judgmental eyes.  All of the other customers are staring at me with hatred.  I feel like a drop of oil in water.  I just simply don’t belong, not here. 
“Evan Hamilton?” a voice announces sternly from the office door by the bathrooms.  I look around and raise my hand.  I am pretty sure I’m the only Evan Hamilton in the restaurant, so I start to walk towards the rather large man with the silver belt buckle.  I twist and churn my sweaty hands into fists and pinch myself just so I know this is the real deal.   “You can do this Evan, you can do this,” I repeat to myself over and over as I get closer to the tall latino man waiting outside of the office for me, trying to be the most presentable.
“Good morning, sir,” I some how manage to squeak out.
He nods at me, ” Come on in and have a seat.”  I scurry past him like a ghost and into the black plastic padded chair.  I curl my fingers around the arm rests and scratch and fiddle the underside, and bounce my ankle. 
This  chair brings back memories I wish had never happened.  Going from counselor to counselor, being told that the foster parents didn’t want me.  It wasn’t to much longer until I was kicked out of the system. 
“I’m sorry Evan, but you’re 18 now.  I know it will be hard transitioning from a teenager to becoming an independent adult, but I know you can do it,”  the counselor said to me at the final meeting.  I could tell he truly didn’t care about my fate.  I was just one less mouth to feed and one less child to worry about in his program.  I didn’t have to worry about the hard transition because I was already living independently, even with the so called “support” from all of the foster parents.
  I notice my socks aren’t matching so I try to pull down my short pant legs to cover up the mistake.  My fingernails are stuffed with dirt, “Why didn’t I try harder to clean them?”  I’ll just keep them in fists, and hope he doesn’t notice.  He closes the heavy door behind him, which finally cuts me off from the evil glares from the outside customers, which makes me feel like I can finally breath again.
“Hello Evan, I’m David, the manager here.” he says as he out his hand.  I give him a firm handshake, hoping he wouldn’t think to much of how dry and dirty my hands were.  “I’ll be doing your interview here today.  When were you last employed?” He already seems to be just like all the rest...judgmental.
“Well…. I haven’t had a serious job for a while, but I have volunteered at the Dane County trash pick up service a couple of times.”  I hope the mention of volunteering helps take off some of the pressure of not having a job for that length of time.  He raises his eyebrows for a quick second and twirls his pen in his hands. 
“That is a long time Mr. Hamilton, especially for a young fellow like you.”
He acts as if he is superior to me.  He is stares at me, but I don’t want to meet his glare because then all of his disappointment will radiate  into me, making me feel worse about my situation. We have only been talking for less than a minute, and it already seems like he hates me.  Game over.
“I know...these have just been some hard times.  I’ve been trying to look for a job for the past year, but no one seems to be hiring.”  Or at least they don’t want to hire a person like me, I think to myself.  I look anywhere but his face, looking at my lap and squeezing my thumbs.  “But then I was walking by here last week and saw that you guys were hiring, and felt a glimmer of hope.  So I turned in my application and well, here I am.” 
He nods his head a couple of times and presses his lips inward.  His fist goes under his chin as he strokes up his cheek and taps his fingers. “We are in need of hiring more staff onto our team and you do seem like a capable employee.  But do you feel like you could pick up a commitment like this everyday again?  I believe you could do it... you just have to think about it yourself.”
Is he saying he wants to hire me? Butterflies start to fly inside my stomach.  Someone actually wants me for once.  I thought he would judge me for not having a job for so long.  Maybe that  glimmer of hope is an actual possibility and not just another turn down of a job after all.
“Yes.” I say with confidence,  “I wouldn’t let you down, David.  I am a hard worker.  I just need a chance to show it.”
“You know Evan,” he said as he leaned back pensively with his hands laced together over his stomach.  “I used to be just like you.”  I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, and c***ing my head to the side.
“Come again, sir?”
“I used to be just like you.”
“I… I just don’t understand what you’re saying, I-”
“I used to be homeless.” He said in a quiet but informative voice. The room went dead silent.   The only sound I hear being is the beeping of alarms and customers yelling their orders outside the door.  My mouth hangs open and my eyes are wide open.
“I just wasn’t expecting that… How did you get to a manager position if you started from, well you know-?” 
“Nothing? Well I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t easy.  But with some hard work and some dedication, you can do it regardless of where you are from.” I tipped my head up and meet his encouraging eyes. 
“So with that being said,” he starts to say as he gets up and reaches out his hand, “you got the job Evan.”
The butterflies in my stomach flutter and I smile from ear to ear with much happiness. “Thank you, thank you so much!” I say as I firmly shake his hand.
“I look forward to working with you Evan.  The only way from here is up.”  He gives me my work cap as I push in my chair behind me and start to heading to the door.
“Hey Evan,” he yells.  I am just starting to turn the door knob when I hear him yell my name. 
I turn around, “yes?”
“There’s one thing you will need to work on before you come to work.”  I try to think what he will say.  “Make sure your socks match” he says as he starts to grin and lean back on his reclinable chair.
“Will do,” I chuckle.  I thought he wouldn’t notice.  Darn.  Oh well, I got the job, I think to myself and shrug my shoulders.
On my way out of the office, the strong glares return.  Their eyes try to break me down into bits and pieces until I am nothing.  But instead I stay strong and repel their laser beam like glares, and confidently stride to the door.  I notice the familiar light up tinker bell sneakers in the second to last booth by the door.  She’s eating the chicken nugget mighty kids meal.
“Good choice, the toy is the best part,” I say to her cheerfully.  She looks up and seems to be scared.  Her mom just took a bite of her chicken ranch wrap just as she noticed me.  She gawks at me, and before she is able to say anything I pop my double golden arches cap on and say, “have a wonderful rest of your afternoon ladies.”  I then tip the side of my hat and am on my way back out into the world.  You did it Evan, you did it.