I. We moved to Seattle and got married soon after graduating from college. With a B.A. in Business Administration, but the only job I could get was as a Management Trainee at a retail store. My white friends who studied in the same program all got high paying corporate jobs. I never got promoted to a management position. I was mostly a cashier, and the store manager would tell me to sweep the floor. I told my wife about it, and she gave me a silent look. I felt she thought I was less of a man.
II. A black female employee took me aside one day and mentioned something about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), but I didn't really listen to her. I was ignorant and in denial. I thought I was white.
I worked in retail for about a year-and-a-half, about the same length of time my marriage lasted. I never knew why my ex-wife wanted a divorce. She never told me why either. I assumed it must had been my fault since she wanted a divorce and I didn't. She soon married a guy who worked in her office.
III. Heartbroken and depressed, I decided to change my career. I went back to school to study education because I wanted to help children.