Tuesday, May 17, 2011

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....

10 comments:

  1. Bobbi, I enjoyed this post and learning a little bit more about you! I look forward to the rest of the story!! :-)) ...

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  2. I was a waitress for about five years - - even left an office job to waitress because there was more money. I have heard of sun poisoning but you are the first person I have known who had it.

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  3. I enjoyed this post very much Bobbi. I look forward to the next installment.

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  4. I've never heard of sun poisoning before. I'll have to google it and read more about it.

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  5. OMD....OK....I was all set to sit my teenie weenie butt on da beach and bleach my furs, but after hearing dat story.....well, do you tink dey would hire a weenie pup as a waitress. I accept Milkbones as aa tip!

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  6. Awww.... you were so cute! Love the pic! My sis and I also used to "lay out in the sun" every Spring Break to "take a tan" She would get the golden Cali tan... I would get the darker brown tan....

    We had a pool, and one Spring Break we lay out in the sun on and off all week, and then the next week, my dad found a nest of copperhead snakes right beside where we had lain!!!!
    EEK!
    Hugs,
    Jenni

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  7. Ooops! Sun poisioning is tough!

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  8. First, you was hot back in da day...I bet your dad hads to beat da boys off withs a stick. My mum gets whacked withs da stoopid stick occasionally.
    Second, my mum agrees withs da dad thing. Her STILL calls her dad to come fix stuffs or just to go somewheres with her and her even still sits in his lap.
    Dads are always proud of their kids when they become independent (to a point) and watching them become their own person...it means they did a good job raising them.

    Puddles

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  9. waitressing is hard work! but I'm sure knowing your dad was there waiting to take you home helped the time go by fast!

    betty

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  10. I unfortunately have had sun poisoning as well. I was 17 and visited a water park. I thought because the sun wasn't out you couldn't get burned. Boy, was I wrong. I don't tan, I burn. So it turned into blisters. I was miserable. I still have all the scars from it. Very painful experience. Now I use SPF 50 sunscreen.

    I have never had a desire to stay at home. I have worked since I was 16. But, I think if I had wanted and had children I might feel differently.

    I was never a waitress but a hostess in a restaurant. That's tough work! That was so sweet of your Dad to come and wait on you!

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