mebanedeac
Well-known member
This is really interesting--I mean learning about all the 1st work experiences.
Apart from odd jobs like mowing, I did not have a regular job until the summer after high school. The job was at RJR in the machine shop. It was a 3rd shift job involving 10 or 12 crusty older men and one other hs guy (which is a story all to itself). The pay was good for the mid-60s, probably less than $2 per hr.
I learned not to cut my hand off or to punch a hole in my fingers (almost the hard way). I learned that working all night was difficult, especially when I would often go play 18 holes of golf immediately after work, catch a 2 or 3 hr. nap, go out on a date and then back to work at 11 PM. That may be when my life-long problems with insomnia began. The job lasted for the entire summer. In subsequent summers I continued to work at RJR, but not 3rd shift and not in the machine shop.
(The story about the other hs guy: I attended a segregated high school and was not acquainted with the sports programs at the black high schools; therefore, I did not recognize the name of the kid. He was Herm Gilliam, one of the top 5 or so athletes to come from W-S. He went to Purdue and played for the Trail Blazers. He didn't know anything about machines either, so we became fairly good friends.)
Apart from odd jobs like mowing, I did not have a regular job until the summer after high school. The job was at RJR in the machine shop. It was a 3rd shift job involving 10 or 12 crusty older men and one other hs guy (which is a story all to itself). The pay was good for the mid-60s, probably less than $2 per hr.
I learned not to cut my hand off or to punch a hole in my fingers (almost the hard way). I learned that working all night was difficult, especially when I would often go play 18 holes of golf immediately after work, catch a 2 or 3 hr. nap, go out on a date and then back to work at 11 PM. That may be when my life-long problems with insomnia began. The job lasted for the entire summer. In subsequent summers I continued to work at RJR, but not 3rd shift and not in the machine shop.
(The story about the other hs guy: I attended a segregated high school and was not acquainted with the sports programs at the black high schools; therefore, I did not recognize the name of the kid. He was Herm Gilliam, one of the top 5 or so athletes to come from W-S. He went to Purdue and played for the Trail Blazers. He didn't know anything about machines either, so we became fairly good friends.)
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