Dear all,
I'm back...actually I never left. I am still in Carlisle, IA enjoying the small town life. Taking daily walks, going to Sunday church, eating Sunday brunch downtown, trying to converse with nearby farm animals...you know the stuff all small-town folk do. One thing I haven't done is teach at the school yet. That doesn't start until August, although a new state law supposedly has already given me a $1500 pay raise. Now, my mysterious salary (I will not tell a soul...except Grandma), is not as high as Uncle Joe's mysterious salary...but nearing it. But I have managed to find yet another interesting job in a long list of interesting jobs. Here is a list of the jobs I have done in my life....I really think all people should try lots of jobs no matter what the pay. I think you will see that I have.....
*1) Picking Dandelions: As I look back, I think my first job was to pick dandelions out of our front yard at the rate of a penny/dandelion. Now that I think of it, this job violates many child labor laws and I would have made more per hour making Walmart shirts in a Vietnamese sweatshop! When my family could afford lawn fertilizer...I was out of business.
*2) Lemonade stand: I also sold cookies since that was the only thing I knew how to cook or bake. Although I had a capitalist mind already at age 6, I did not have much intelligence. An idea that works in town does not always work on a country highway. Note to self...put signs up at least a half mile in advance. Cars cannot (and will not) go from 60-0 in 50 yds. for lemonade at 50 cents a glass! I did make a profit as Grandma aquired my stand for a large sum of cash and stock at the end of the day.
*3) Various around the house jobs: These were jobs that I performed all summer and after school b/c my parents thought that a childhood was not important. These ranged from burning down our pasture while unattended to hauling wood that Dad sawed. Extra money was earned for not telling U. Tom that Dad dented his pickup and for not repeating the words Dad said.
*4) Mowing lawns: This was my passion. Finally, a job that required me sitting for hours on end trying to get that stupid song out of my head....and get paid. I mowed our lawn, Grandma's lawn, and my neighbor's lawn. Non-family lawns paid handsomely and supported my growing stock-buying habit!
*5) Farm work: This was not my passion! Remembering how to do the chores was impossible, trying to drive tractors was impossible, figuring out the different tools was impossible...but I did it and got paid. Now I appreciate it b/c driving tractors, feeding pigs, and fixing fence are coming in handy....yeah right!
*6) Hoeing beans: Picture this: An 8-year old Irish boy with a horrible temper getting picked on by his older brothers and their friends on a 100 degree day in a large open bean field...oh yeah, and he was armed with a corn knife with a 24-inch blade. Needless to say, I liked this job!*7) OK, OK...let's skip ahead....I put up field signs for DeKalb seed. I later worked as a Desk Assistant for Noehren Hall in college. This meant I delivered mail and answered phones. I was a summer park ranger intern. I worked as a stock boy/packager for an agricultural parts warehouse. I sold spring breaks for two years. I was both custoidian and receptionist for our college church. I was a substitute teacher and a Target cashier at the same time. And now I am working for minimum wage as a Hy-vee Cashier. Little advice? If you shop at Hy-Vee, don't yell at anyone with a name tag that says "One year of service". What that tag means is that we just got done training, we have no idea what's going on, most of us aren't even 16 yet, and besides all that, we make minimum wage. Yell at the people who make the big bucks (anything over $6/hour). They have at least a year and can drive...they need to be yelled at because they still work there!!! Anyway, I am only doing it for 7 weeks. Heck, if Round-up and Fertilizer weren't so widespread, I would probably be ridding Carlisle of dandelions for 3 cents/dandelion (inflation!) as we speak. Damn dandelions....Have a good rest of July and be kind to animals and your local Hy-Vee workers.
Love&Prayers,
Ben
