I thought it would be fun to share with you all the jobs I've ever had - with some funny or embarrassing stories along the way. You know you have to keep it interesting to the reader, to keep their nose in the pages.
Now I will admit right now that I was the spoiled baby in the family - I am sure that my brothers and sisters probably did more work around the house than I did. But I remember pitching in now and then. One of the worst jobs was polishing the silver for those big parties our parents would host - and everything had to be just right. It's not surprising that I never polish any of the silver that was handed down to me, and rightly so, because I have never used it.
Mom taught us how to do our own laundry when I was in the fourth grade. I don't know if everyone learned then - because we had just moved into a new house and so mom must have decided it was high time we all learned. I reciprocated and taught my kids how to do their laundry about the same age. But because either I wasn't paying attention (probably that) or Mom didn't know herself, I didn't pass on any tips about separating laundry or what temp to wash the clothes in. I just threw them all in at the same time - and dried them all, too. Actually, I still do it that way because it's only me in the house - I don't have enough to separate. Though on occasion, I might wash the towels separately. Mom is not here to defend herself, so I will say that it was probably me not listening. She did teach me how to iron - oh, I dreaded that job. Mom would have a pillowcase full of table linens or dad's work shirts. What a tedious job. I did iron shirts for both my husbands, along with the dress pants, but only ironed my own when absolutely necessary. Currently I have an ironing board and an iron, but I have yet to use it in the last year or so. Wrinkles seem to be in, these days. Love the wash and wear clothing.
Another chore at my house growing up was to weed the garden and to weed between the bricks on the patio and along the path by the little fish pond. Oh - the knuckles would ache pulling up strands of grass. And I'm not sure why, but the garden gloves never worked as well as my bare hands. My mom loved her gardens. After all of us kids were up and out of the house, mom and dad moved out into the country and had many more gardens - one was along a split-rail fence that led down the driveway. It took me eight hours to weed that - both sides of the fence. And longer, if I happened to see a snake slither by. Mom would get dad to build another garden and I would try to protest - because I was usually the one who had to weed it. And there were snakes hiding in the garden by the stone wall. Oh - just gives me shivers thinking about them. I'd be moving along quite well, when I would reach under a peonia and lo and behold, a snake would slither away. I would scream and jump up and run away from the garden and then wouldn't return to that area for a few days. I don't know why I thought the snake would have actually left and gone elsewhere. So over the summers, I learned the best sunning spots for those critters and I would always look before pulling. But even that would drive me crazy, because there would be a stick that moves or a big fat worm - and I would still react the same way. Mom didn't fire me. She just kept asking dad to build more gardens. Currently - I have a small area in view of my patio that has lilies in it and a forsythia bush. They were here when I moved in last year. I just raked the area today - but the moment I spot a snake - it's going to become part of the wooded area once again.
The other general chores around the house were the same as everyone elses - cleaning the bathroom, washing the windows with newspapers (less streaks on the windows, but more ink on your hands), vacuuming, dusting, doing the dishes, cleaning our rooms. These were the same ones I taught my children. There were times when my children were younger that I couldn't go to bed at night with a messy house. I would throw all the toys into baskets and make sure the dishes were done, if not put away. It's sort of what I would always do before going on a trip - clean the house, so when we returned, it would only be a matter of putting things away. One day my house was a mess and wouldn't you know, a door to door saleman was coming up to the house to show me some magic cleaner that made mold and mildew disappear. I even had him come into my bedroom and into the bathroom to show me how it would clean the shower. (I don't recommend this to anyone - keep strangers out of your house!). So I had to scrape up some money that we were saving for something else, in order to buy this magical stuff. Only to discover later, that it turned everything orange. The lessons we learn by trial and error. Sometimes priceless.
So my first real job was working as a title searcher at the county courthouse. This was the summer before my senior year, and then I worked during breaks and the following summer after graduation. My dad was my boss, since he was a lawyer. It was similar to being an investigato because you had to go back sixty years to see if there were any leins on the property, before it could be sold. I worked from 9 to 5 with an hour off at lunch. Dad paid me so I would have some spending money in college.
After my freshman year in college, I worked as a dishwasher at a church camp in NW PA. My sister's husband was director there - that's how I got the job. It was fun. I always left work more wet than the dishes. There was a sprayer for the dishes as I put them into a rack and then I would slide it into the Hobart machine, and then out the other side to air dry and then put away. But first - there was the slop bucket. All leftover food on the plates got thrown into the slop bucket. The local pig farmer would come by every few days to pick up the buckets and feed the pigs. Yum. On Saturdays, last day of camp, the kids would get a turkey dinner, complete with a pumpkin pie. I got permission from the cook to have a pumpkin pie fight after camp was over, as long as we promised to clean up the whole kitchen afterwards. Yeah - I know how to have fun.
I know I had a job at Montgomery Wards during a Christmas break somewhere along the way. I remember working in the jewelry department but also having to run the popcorn machine.
I worked one semester in the college kitchen taking silverware off of the plates and trays that were on the rollers - as they slid into the kitchen area. I actually enjoyed it, not only because it gave me some extra money. I didn't have a lot of expenses, except for books. I found a beauty school just down the street from campus that only charged $4 per haircut. I went in a few times, but this one particular time this man was putting my hair into little sections using bobby pins and then proceeded to tell me that I was his first customer. When I left there, my hair was so short, I had to wear a baseball cap for a few weeks til it grew back out. But hey - I was saving some money - plus it was a while longer til I had to get it cut again. (Ok, so that wasn't a job I had - just a funny story.)
[Side note - I was married in 1982, with one more year left in college. We lived in Alliance, OH and then Louisville, OH]
My daugher Amy was born five days before I graduated with a degree in Elem Education and a minor in learning disabilities. I accepted a position as a learning disabilities tutor - it was only half day all year long, so I had to find childcare for Amy. I had her in a daycare (in a house) for a month or so, and then a church friend decided to watch her the rest of the year for me. Then the following summer - my husband's work transferred down to Atlanta, GA. (1984)
I looked into different jobs. I considered having a newspaper route - it would be a driving one, but started at 3am to bag all of the papers first before delivering. Needless to say, I didn't take it - I have never been a morning person. So I opted to work at a daycare that I could take Amy with me for an extra fee. This job only lasted maybe five days. After walking by Amy's room and seeing her wander around with no interaction from the other kids nor the teachers, I couldn't keep her there. And to give me another reason, I found out I was pregnant with our second child - and morning sickness would keep me home.
So I was a stay at home mom off and on for the next 25 years or there abouts. I continued to work part time - to supplement my husband's income. So stay tuned for more writings about jobs I have endured over the years.
No comments:
Post a Comment