To ease his anxiety, a 16-year-old put up signs asking to shadow people on the job. It’s working
“Do you have a cool job and a big heart?,” read a sign taped to a New York City lightpole. “Let me shadow you. I’m 16 pls.”
The flyer is from high-school junior Avi Lichtenstein, who is so worried about his future that he’s asking strangers if he can follow them to work.
“Every night I’m like, ‘What am I going to do with my life?,’” the curly-haired teen says. “I just couldn’t put my mind to rest.”
He came up with the plan last month. Using about $500 of his savings, he paid two guys he found on Craigslist to plaster the city with more than 300 flyers. His goal for the school year: follow one person a week to get a better idea of what he wants to do before he applies to colleges next year.
It’s working. He’s shadowed a dog groomer, a radio show host and a ramen shop owner, and is reviewing requests from an airline captain and a tattoo artist. One went so well, he was offered a part-time job.
