Women and Work. Job #1

  I think many women do enjoy working outside of the home... but not me.  Give me Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a box Godiva chocolates, and a vacuum cleaner... and I'll be in seventh heaven while keeping my abode fresh and clean.  Being a housewife was not my lot in life, though. 
 So much for the American dream.

Directly out of high school I spent a few days in Ocean City Md. with some friends, where I got the worse case of sun poisoning I'd ever witnessed.  I'd never been to the beach before and felt so small standing beside the mystical body of larger-than-life raging ocean waves.  

Day #1 I laid on my back.  

Day #2 I laid on my stomach.  

Day #3 I visited the Emergency Medical Office for sunburn treatment.  

My front and back were beet red.  A white line showed undamaged skin all the way up the sides of my legs and into my arms.  I was a geek so as it was... this did not help my image.  A week later, at home, my dad looked at me one day kind of weird... "Why are you all purple?" he asked.  "And Why are you all puffy?"  After another trip to the doctor, I found out I had sun poisoning.  Not fun.  

So that was my introduction to adulthood.  Ah... the joys of freedom.  But...  now my vacation was over it was time to find a job.  My brother knew the manager of the White Coffee Pot restaurant in LaVale.  Soon I was in like flint!  

Job #1.  Waitress.  

Fifty cents was considered a great tip back in those days.  My first great tip came from a relative in spite of the glass of water she wore home.  

My dad would come to pick me up at 11 PM.  He'd sit on a bar stool and order coffee while waiting for me to wrap it up.  I could tell he was extremely proud of me.  Walking out into the balmy summer night air, I'd empty my pockets and begin counting my tips.  I can still remember Dad's smile as I hopped up into the trucks cab....  "Five dollars and twenty five cents!" I said.  I breathed in deep to savor his Old Spice smell, mingled with the faint odor of gasoline.  I thought to myself...  nobody should ever have to be without a dad in their life.  Life doesn't get any better...  I felt a love that only a father can provide.  

To be continued....