Finding a Living

Without a car, it was difficult to look for a job. I did not want to work at a gas station down the street, and I was also still uncomfortable with the people. I still wore Hijab and was afraid of the trouble I might get by customers. I decided to go to a mosque and ask if they were aware of any positions in the area more befitting for a Muslim. I went to the mosque in Richardson and walked around unsuredly. In Riyadh and Cairo, a woman does not just walk around the mosque. There are no offices in the mosques there, or men and women within one room at all. Here it was different. I finally got in contact with a Muslim woman who helped people in need. She took me grocery shopping and gave me contacts of Muslims hiring in the Richardson area. I got an interview with a Muslim company that sold books and educational materials imported from the Middle East, and I got a job as a customer service representative/administrative assistant. The office only had 4-6 people, and they were also Muslim. It was a comfortable atmosphere for me. The only thing that was difficult was the public transportation I had to utilize. It would take almost two hours to get to work and another two to come home by taking two buses, and I would be early. By car, it only took around 15 minutes and every day, I wished more and more that I had one.