Seven Tears Into the Sea
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Thursday, June 30, 2005
Cutting 'Cots, Cutting Corners
HI,
Since I've only been a fulltime writer for a year or so, lots of readers want to know which jobs I had before. The most memorable ones were: fruit picker, waitress, secretary and teacher.
My favorite was teaching. Absolutely. I love kids, books and firmly believe anyone who's bored in a high school classroom just IS NOT paying attention to what's going on around her and lots of it has nothing to do with the lesson!
I'm sure a waitress character will work her way into one of my books. Why did I like the job? Hmmm...I guess it was fun because I created mini-friendships with people whose orders I took. I was a pretty hyper waitress -- talking, zipping around balancing orders, swinging back by tables to explain delays, swooping up dropped spoons, pouring coffee, fetching packets of crackers, making silly faces for babies...Work went fast and I earned good tips even though my feet ached by bedtime.
Cutting 'cots means slicing apricots in half. During high school, I lived in the midst of San Jose's orchards. Most of them have been ripped out to make way for malls, now, but then it was easy to get summer jobs picking plums or cutting cots. It was hot, sticky work, under leafy trees. The aroma of ripe fruit was delicious in the morning. By midday, it drew flies. I got paid for exactly what I did; a boss counted the wooden flats I'd covered with apricot halves. Sometimes I started adding up the dollars, calculating as I worked. I'd get greedy, my knife would flash too fast, I'd slice my thumb along with the fruit and draw blood.
I worked as a secretary at one job I loved (in San Francisco) and another I hated at the XYZ Company (uh huh, totally made up name). There, the money was great, the office air-conditioned & there was little chance to hurt myself. Physically. But XYZ was packed with salesmen willing to take advantage of people.
The "most successful" guy drove a Corvette, but his clients often called the office crying. Another guy specialized in cheating old people. He threw up each time he came back into the office. Guilt, I guess, but he didn't stop. The salesman who made the least listened to opera & coaxed me to give it a chance. It was WAY not my style, but I enjoyed the stories behind the music -- romance, adventure and suffering.
But they were stories and the do-anything-for-money attitude was real. I couldn't keep answering the phone all chirpy and cheery. I finally quit. It was bad timing with my rent and college tuition due. I managed to pay, then lived on noodles and green apples that month, happily.
My advice is to pick a job you love. I can't imagine how awful it would be to go to bed each night dreading the next morning! What a waste of a lifetime.
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 8:40 AM
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Cutting 'Cots, Cutting Corners
HI,
Since I've only been a fulltime writer for a year or so, lots of readers want to know which jobs I had before. The most memorable ones were: fruit picker, waitress, secretary and teacher.
My favorite was teaching. Absolutely. I love kids, books and firmly believe anyone who's bored in a high school classroom just IS NOT paying attention to what's going on around her and lots of it has nothing to do with the lesson!
I'm sure a waitress character will work her way into one of my books. Why did I like the job? Hmmm...I guess it was fun because I created mini-friendships with people whose orders I took. I was a pretty hyper waitress -- talking, zipping around balancing orders, swinging back by tables to explain delays, swooping up dropped spoons, pouring coffee, fetching packets of crackers, making silly faces for babies...Work went fast and I earned good tips even though my feet ached by bedtime.
Cutting 'cots means slicing apricots in half. During high school, I lived in the midst of San Jose's orchards. Most of them have been ripped out to make way for malls, now, but then it was easy to get summer jobs picking plums or cutting cots. It was hot, sticky work, under leafy trees. The aroma of ripe fruit was delicious in the morning. By midday, it drew flies. I got paid for exactly what I did; a boss counted the wooden flats I'd covered with apricot halves. Sometimes I started adding up the dollars, calculating as I worked. I'd get greedy, my knife would flash too fast, I'd slice my thumb along with the fruit and draw blood.
I worked as a secretary at one job I loved (in San Francisco) and another I hated at the XYZ Company (uh huh, totally made up name). There, the money was great, the office air-conditioned & there was little chance to hurt myself. Physically. But XYZ was packed with salesmen willing to take advantage of people.
The "most successful" guy drove a Corvette, but his clients often called the office crying. Another guy specialized in cheating old people. He threw up each time he came back into the office. Guilt, I guess, but he didn't stop. The salesman who made the least listened to opera & coaxed me to give it a chance. It was WAY not my style, but I enjoyed the stories behind the music -- romance, adventure and suffering.
But they were stories and the do-anything-for-money attitude was real. I couldn't keep answering the phone all chirpy and cheery. I finally quit. It was bad timing with my rent and college tuition due. I managed to pay, then lived on noodles and green apples that month, happily.
My advice is to pick a job you love. I can't imagine how awful it would be to go to bed each night dreading the next morning! What a waste of a lifetime.
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 8:40 AM
Comments: Post a Comment