Monday, May 11, 2015

Blog Tour Guest Post with Anna Banks, Author of Joyride (and GIVEAWAY!)


Hello and welcome to the Joyride blog tour! I'm thrilled to participate in the promotion for this new book by the lovely Anna Banks. My review of Joyride will be posted tomorrow. In the meantime, check out this guest post by Anna, and enter to win Joyride!


Meet Anna!


Would You Hire Anna Banks?

So. I’ve had a lot of freaking jobs in my relatively short life ;) Here is a resume of my most memorable ones. You can decide if you’d hire me or not.

Taco Bell

This was the only job I ever walked out on. I was about 18 years old when I worked here and while Taco Bell is a good company to work for overall, don’t get me wrong, it might have been my least favorite job. But it was one of my first jobs, and one of my first glimpses into what real-life working was. Here are some cray-cray things that happened while I was there, that made me realize people were crazy:

1.) A customer paid all in pennies. Not rolled pennies. Nope, loose pennies intermingled with lint and hair and what looked suspiciously like dried boogers. $14 worth of disgusting pennies. 
2.) A customer claimed that there was a lizard in his Mexican Pizza and demanded a refund, but could not provide proof of the lizard. It was apparently still alive and ran off—and, AND! the Mexican Pizza was entirely eaten when he demanded a refund. 
3.) A man, obviously high on something, came through our drive thru wanting to return his Big Mac. After explaining to him eleventeen times that we weren’t McDonald’s, he called 9-1-1 to “report a robbery”. He was arrested, to say the least.  

Job Skill Acquired: Ability to keep a straight face while utter ridiculousness is being spewed at you by someone who barely made it to the restaurant clothed and alive. 

Real Estate Assistant

Sounds boring, right? Well, I learned a few things anyway, and not just how to list a property for sale. We also handled rentals, and here is the downside to that:

1.) When someone gets evicted, all their stuff is put out to the side of the road. People freaking line up to pick through it when this happens. These vultures came in to the office to inquire if we knew of anyone getting evicted that month. Once, they almost got into a brawl over the evictee’s lingerie! Used underwear, people. 
2.) Part of my job was to show potential renters around different properties. Some of those properties were absolute squalor. There was one property that had a hole in the living room wall, and I had to be the one to explain that the landlord had no intention of fixing it. Loser.
3.) I had a client who tried to pay his rent in the form of home-grown marijuana. Needless to say, a property inspection was conducted and said client had to get rid of his “garden”.  

Job Skill Acquired: Humility. No matter how bad you’ve got it, chances are you’re not living in a house with a hole in the living room in the dead of winter, or being evicted as scavengers troll through your belongings. 

Cleaning Vacation Rentals

O. M. G. This lasted one day, and here’s why:

1.) I had the misfortune to clean the penthouse. Apparently, when you have a lot of money,  you lose your freaking mind. There were live crabs in one of the bathtubs, Spaghettios thrown against the wall and left to drip down it, and one of the bunk beds was smeared in FRESH human feces. 
2.) The girl training me informed me that you only change the sheets if they look dirty. Seriously. 
3.) Did I mention human feces?

Job Skill Acquired: None. I didn’t even go back to pick up my only paycheck.

What are your employment horror stories? 


Follow the Author:



About Joyride:


Joyride by Anna Banks
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: June 2, 2015

Summary (from Goodreads):

A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.

It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.

Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber's mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.

All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.



The Giveaway:

Win a copy of Joyride! USA/CA only. Ends 05/26.



Follow the rest of tour!

May 12- Xpresso Reads
May 13- WhoRU Blog
May 19-Fiktshun
May 27-Dana Square
May 29-Paper Riot
May 30-Mundie Moms

21 comments:

  1. I've never worked at a place I didn't enjoy, because my life is awesome :)
    Thanks for the giveaway

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  2. I also have enjoyed all of the jobs that I have done. They may not have been the most fun, or the most exciting, but I found things about them all that I liked.

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  3. My worst job was as a teacher. Maybe it was where I taught, or what I taught, but it was punishing.

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  4. It wasn't too bad, but I worked at Macy's in the sheet department, at night, while going to college.

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  5. When I worked at Panera, I was treated like I was hardly a person by management. I was hired as a cashier, but instead of doing the company mandated 6 week training across all positions, I was thrown out into the dining room with no training, and left there the 6 months I worked there. Besides me, there was only one other dining room closing associate and we worked alternate nights. She also ended up leaving about the same time I did, because she couldn't take it anymore either.

    The management refused to buy a working vacuum and since the place was all carpeted and served crumbly baked goods, the manager made me crawl on my hands and knees and pick up the crumbs each night since sweeping just broke the crumbs down into smaller crumbs.

    The manager also used to make me do the dish position which is BOH and dining room position which is FOH at the same time to save money, and then during rush, if one of them was getting backed up she would pull me aside and yell at me that I need to do better.

    Everyday I would work 9 hour shifts and 30 minutes before close I would be told I can finally take my 30 minute break, but that I would be behind schedule closing up and would get in trouble, so I shouldn't even bother.

    One time during a lunch rush, someone decided to leave human feces right inside one of the stalls, 8 inches from the toilet, and then stepped in it and trailed in across the bathroom and out the door. I asked my shift leader for help because it wouldn't be a quick clean up, but was ignored. When I finally finished cleaning it all up, the dish bin and trash were full. I was then yelled at for not maintaining the dining room.

    When the shift supervisor showed me the text from our manager saying I had to starting getting out earlier at night if I wanted to keep my job, I handed him my letter of resignation and told him minimum wage was not worth it.

    Mandy's Books and Beauty

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  6. I've only ever worked at 3 places (Cvs Pharmacy-still there, Braums Ice cream and Dairy-the worst from this was havin to scoop ice cream, and Barnes and Noble- I loved this job, but sadly it wouldn't pay the bills.)

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  7. I wouldn't say the place I work is the worst. It's just some of the people that comes into the pharmacy will be rude or disrespectful. I don't like to face with that kind of attitude and it really brings my mood down.

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  8. Right now I work at a book store. It's fine, what kills it is the customers.

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  9. The hardest job I have had to endure is the first job I ever had, working at a frozen yogurt shop. The hours were terrible

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  10. I worked for a thankfully brief period of time as a chambermaid in a hotel. Holy moly it was gross and such hard work too!

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  11. Bussing tables. People are assholes.

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  12. Oh my goodness! Some of those jobs sound horrible (with funny anecdotes though). Sounds like a great book :)

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  13. Working at H&M during sales season! People are rude, they throw on the floor the clothes that are not their sizes and walk on them, and sometimes you also have to break a fight for the last t-shirt! It's hell!

    Carolina M on rafflecopter

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  14. I've only worked at a movie theater, and my job is usually pretty good. The worst thing I can think of happened last October. Some crazy lady came in with a trash bag filled with trash she collected around town and insisted that she bring it into the theater with her. It ended up spilling all over the floor and she left after yelling at everyone.

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  15. I've never had an official job before, though I do volunteer work! I'm still in high school, so that's why I only volunteer. I volunteered at a county fair once and had to work in 80 degree weather in a kitchen... it was so rough!

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  16. Mine would be working in a sub restaurant. I always felt dirty when i left!

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  17. I actually spent three months working for a talent agent. Every cliche and stereotype about agents? True!

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  18. YAY :D Goorgeous tour post Alyssa. <3 So glad you got to be a part of this one :) I was invited, then declined because I said I gave this book two stars, lol :p But I aaaadore Anna :) She is amazing. And your post with her is amazing :D Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3

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  19. I had one day as a mascot in a hot costume.

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  20. I can't say much about it but I once had a job in a neighborhood that was so dangerous that to do the job I had to be followed around by the police. Thanks for the giveaway! I can't wait to read Joyride.
    Ann S

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  21. Tim Hortons. The owners were selfish and didn't care about their employees and the management was verbally abusive. Ya... I didn't put up with it long. Thank you so much for the chance to win!
    Rafflecopter: Elizabeth Holme

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Also, this an award and tag free blog. While I am flattered that you would think of me, I really do not have the time to follow up. Thank you!