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The other day, I was reminiscing about the good ol' days and remembered some terrible jobs that I had at a much younger age.
Worst of all: being a member of the clean-up crew at Candlestick Park in San Francsco in the early 60's. Nothing like sweeping a row in the upper deck and having a 40-mph wind blow the trash back to its original location. Things were especially fun after double headers.
But with Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal starring for the Giants, it all seemed to be worth it. Another redeeming feature was the pay: $7 an hour.
When I was 12, I stood on the corner of Louisana & Lomas every Saturday and sold the Alb. Journal for .25 each. I made .03 per paper. I basically worked for the tips. After a few hours I'd be lucky to have $7-$10 in tips. Once in a blue moon, some nice person would spot me a $5 bill. I remember standing in the cold and the wind. It was not fun.
Another job I had was selling candy when I was 13 -- saltwater taffy, cashew peanuts, peanut brittle, etc... The candy was $2.50 per box and I made .50 per box. I'd have to lug around a big box with all of the candy in it. My boss would drop me off on a busy street and I'd go from business to business. When I ran out of candy, I'd sit on the street and wait for him to come by and fill up my box again. I remember one day that was especially bad for sales. I walked from Montgomery & San Mateo all the way to San Mateo & Gibson and only sold 3 boxes of candy! We were told to say that we were trying to earn money to go to summer camp.
We'd also do road trips to places like Gallup or Durango to sell the candy. We were told not to go into the bars, but I couldn't resist doing that because I'd sell out my entire box in five minutes.
I also used to do phone soliciting jobs when I was a teenager. I hated getting hung up on. I had some horrible jobs back then!
Worst job: Selling cars for a dealership. After 3 wks, I quit on my way to work one morning.
In 7th grade, I'd ride my bike from El Cerro Loop near Tome Hill, thru the Valencia "Y" (was an actual Y back then) and up to the bowling alley in Bosque Farms where I'd clean the parking lot twice a week for $5. Then on the way back, I'd clean the old Sidewinder Lounge's lot too. No fancy sidewalks back then.
I've had a few bad jobs. The one that sticks out in my mind was working at an answering service from ages 11-18. Thinking back, it's a bit frightening that they allowed an 11yo to monitor home security alarms and answer the phones. We routinely got perverted callers, including some regulars, like one guy who would call a funeral home that used the service and say obscene things. There were also plenty of angry callers trying to reach their plumber, electrician, apartment management office, roofer, etc. Lots of prescription drug addicts calling one doctor after another trying to get their hands on pain meds. They never realized that they were talking to the same person over and over when they called these different doctors after hours. The people who worked at this answering service were just as colorful and interesting as the callers. It wasn't uncommon to see crack pipes in peoples lockers, and one morning the owner of the service arrived to find gun shots in the ceiling. Then there were the people who used the service. An answering service is a good front for lots of shady businesses. There were also the people who would yell and scream at you no matter what when you bothered them after hours. Doctors on call with a patient who had an emergency would bite your head off when you paged them. Fun times I tell ya!
Worst job: Selling cars for a dealership. After 3 wks, I quit on my way to work one morning.
In 7th grade, I'd ride my bike from El Cerro Loop near Tome Hill, thru the Valencia "Y" (was an actual Y back then) and up to the bowling alley in Bosque Farms where I'd clean the parking lot twice a week for $5. Then on the way back, I'd clean the old Sidewinder Lounge's lot too. No fancy sidewalks back then.
I had that job, too (selling new cars). I did that for two years. It wasn't so bad back then. I made pretty decent income for being 22 years old. I would not want that as a lifetime career though. I still know some salesmen from back then who are still selling cars today. Most came and went like you did, but there are those who made it their careers. I think of that and shudder. I also shudder thinking about how every day I got into cars with complete strangers and let them drive.
Although not in New Mexico, my worst civillian job was clearing power line ROW in the North Woods. I swear I lost a pound a day just to the mosquitoes and BLACK FLIES. It was about the hardest work I ever did. By far the worst job was being a River Rat on the Mekong in '66-'67.
I thought there weren't any tickets out of hell once you were there. :-)
Yeah, I lie to the kids all the time (not on real issues - for instance they ask what their grade is, and my standard answer is F), and they tell me I'm going to hell. I always tell them I'm already in hell, but they don't get it!
NMGUY - I hope I get to the head of the line!
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