Summer jobs

Growing up having a beach house was a treat and a thrill, but when I graduated from high school in a January class, I was expected to get a job.

That meant my very next summer would not be spent basking in the sun. My folks told me I needed to earn my book money and spending money for college, while they footed the bills for all else.

I had to exaggerate the truth a bit when asked by my first employer, an insurance company, if I had given any thought to going on to college because they did not want to search for a new employee anytime soon. They, however, were desperate for a file clerk and so, for nine months, I rode the bus from my home in Providence, RI, to the downtown area for work. This particular office was the noisiest office I had ever been in. Since adjusters came and went all day long, there was such shouting.

“Phone call for Bob, anyone know where he is and when he will be back?”

One day, I realized that there was a whole wall covered with whiteboard that seemed never to be used. I went to the woman who hired me and suggested that they put each adjuster’s name on the board and have them sign in and out so everyone would know their expected routine for that particular day. She absolutely loved the idea and suddenly, the workplace was quiet and peaceful. All I can remember about that boring job was that it was close to a deli with the most delicious corned beef sandwiches topped with Russian dressing on their homemade Rye bread. Yum!

Off I went to college, and when summer approached once again, I had to find another job. There was an area not far away from my home with many shops, offices and other types of businesses. I did not have a car or a ride to work, so I canvassed many in that nearby area for work. I finally landed a job with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. The gal who typed checks for them was going to be out for a prolonged period of time. I explained that I did type, but I was far from perfect. They hired me anyway. The gal who checked the amount on all checks before they were sent out hated me. Now she had to scrutinize each one because my typing skills were so lacking.

The next summer, I worked for an insurance agency. Someone had left for a new job, and they wanted the summer to leisurely fill the position. The only problem was that she had done almost all the work before she left. When the boss found out, he arrived the next day with bags and bags of articles and numerous scrapbooks. It seems he was rather famous in the state and much was written about him. It literally took that summer to complete his scrapbooks. Since the office was in downtown Providence, he often commandeered me to sit in his car while he was going to be in the office for just a short time, and I was told to blow the horn three times if a policeman was coming. He parked his big, ostentatious, Cadillac partially on the street and just over onto the curb, so as to not impede traffic. I felt totally ridiculous, sitting there on a slant performing this task, but after all he was the boss.

Summer No. 3 was another insurance agency. For the first few weeks, I never met the boss. He was cloistered in his office before my arrival time and was still in there when I left at the end of the workday. His personal secretary hired me, and all I knew about him was he had a very loud, bombastic voice and talked on the phone almost the entire day. One morning he yelled out, “Little girl, can you come in here?” Of course, I knew he meant me and raced in. He handed me a $10 bill to go get coffee for the four of us in the office. When I got back and handed him his coffee, he told me to keep the change. (There was actually some). I was always happy to make a coffee run and get the extra money. One day, he asked me where I went to school, and I told him I attended the University of Rhode Island. Being the smallest state in the union, one usually knows where all important sites are, but he was a highly successful businessman who said he had never been to that part of the state where my school was located.

My last summer before a full-time job as a teacher, I was able to work with a friend. It was assembling a cookbook. We had to take pages 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, etc., then staple under an automatic stapler. I have no idea why it was put together in that manner, but we diligently followed directions, and the publishing company seemed to really like and appreciate the work both my friend and I did. We managed to work through June, July and part of August before the job was completed. It was actually fun to have someone to travel to and from work with and eat lunch with every day.

Once I was employed full time, I have to admit to being very happy to no longer have to pound the pavement each year in early June to find a summer job. Although teaching was much more difficult, and with much more responsibility, it was ever so rewarding and certainly never dull. Along with a tiny bit bigger paycheck went the reward of seeing young children learn, grow and thrive. Some even admitted to loving the teacher!