Friday, September 12, 2014

TALES FROM THE BAYOU: Summer Time Jobs






There are some kids who do nothing all summer long but hang out with their friends, chug glasses of coke or iced tea, and watch the days drag by. Hot sunny days stacking up on top of each other, one by one, until it's time to head back to school.

I was never one of those kids. I loved to read and spent every waking second pouring through books whenever Mother let me.  Thankfully she was a voracious reader as well but her tastes ran mainly to westerns written by Zane Grey while I was into everything else.

But it was the variety of jobs done around the house as well as offered around the neighborhood for pocket change which occupied the bulk of my summer days.

One of the first jobs I can remember doing...and it was probably just to help my brother out...was rolling up tons of newspapers and putting rubber bands around them before stuffing all of it into his carrier. I think my sister, Janet, went on some of his routes with him but I definitely remember my blackened hands from all that ink and a few sore fingers from broken rubber bands.

We also used to cut a few of the neighborhood yards and I can remember actually cutting the grass but don't remember being able to keep much of the money afterwards. Unfortunately my mother had a rather large cigarette habit and I have a feeling a good portion of the yard money was used on tobacco products.

Jobs around the house included literally scrubbing all the walls down in each room, shucking corn that sometimes nearly reached the ceiling of our enclosed porch, climbing mulberry trees at our neighbors to have canned or frozen berries during the winter, pulling weeds from the vegetable garden or harvesting the crops, cutting back the bamboo that grew between our house and our next door neighbor's (THAT job earned me five massive hornet stings on my head and more over my body when Mother unexpectedly stirred up their nest), and babysitting my next door neighbor's young son. 

As I got a little bit older I had the chance to work at the local cafe but that only lasted a short while because the owner quickly realized my sister and I made a better team than their own children. We were way more popular with their customers and they couldn't have that so I was let go and my sister quit shortly afterwards.

All those summer time jobs taught me a number of things...

1) The important things in life usually come with a price whether it's actually dollars or sweat equity.
2) A hard day's work never killed anybody but sometimes it really FELT like I was gonna die.
3) Cherish the down time because you never know when someone's gonna yell at you to get back to work.
4) Don't put off to tomorrow what you can do today cuz Mother still has more plans for you tomorrow!
5) Do the job you hate the most first. That way the rest of the work will seem like fun.
6) Even the most demanding job will eventually come to an end and when it does, there is always iced tea and a good book to read!

My summers these days are crammed full of work and kiddies and not as much reading as I've done in my youth but at least I'm not running from hornets any more and I still get the chance to sneak in a book or two when my boss isn't looking...;~)


14 comments:

  1. Hi Donna ... good memories here of times back then - and how important it is to help others .. glad the hornets are staying away .. but enjoy the end of summer ... as it winds down .. and your thoughts are just right .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Hi Hilary! It's been interesting writing these posts because some of these memories I haven't really thought about for years...;~)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  2. I was lucky enough to have had a rural upbringing. It was brought home to me how much different it must have been for city boys when I went with a friend for a hike in the country. He was a big tough guy but clearly not at home in the wilds where he was perpetually nervous about spiders, snakes, wasps, etc. I found it strange how he could be so ill at ease in what was to me a natural environment.

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    1. jp, I have missed you. How have you been? I've used different email addresses I had for you but got no reply. I am definitely NOT a country girl. Well, I like to visit the country but I like living in the city.
      I hope you are doing well.

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    2. Hi Janet sorry I missed you but I did a bit of touring and neglected my e-mail accounts. By the time I checked there were more than 1000 unread and although I keep meaning to go through them.... well you can guess. I am leaning towards a return to blogging but still have a lot on my plate atm. hopefully everything should be back to normal by the end of November.

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    3. Hi JP! I'm the exact opposite of Janet...I'm more of a country girl who finds herself in the bigger city and making do...;~)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  3. Donna, I did take over part of the paper route. One winter evening, I was delivering a paper to Coach Abshire's house. I was supposed to lay my bike down and walk to the front porch and drop the paper on it. Instead I rode my bike down the steep driveway and my bike hit the front steps. I flew over the handles and landed on the porch. The coach came out the door and I popped up and handed him the paper. I was so embarrassed and in pain but I just smiled and rode away.

    When you and I mowed our lawn after brother left home, we charged Daddy for it. He said brother did it for free. We told him we were smarter. We got paid, though.

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    1. Hi Janet! I was hoping my memories served me well. Didn't know about you taking a spill on Coach Abshire's porch...THAT would have been worth seeing...lol...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  4. I really liked your post about TALES FROM THE BAYOU: Summer Time Jobs

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    1. Hi Mita and welcome to my blog! I'm glad you are enjoying my childhood tales and if you have some time on your hands, look around to see what other goodies are out there...;~)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  5. The line about the local cafe made me chuckle, and scoff at the owner's decision. :) Great post! :D

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    1. Hi Erik! I was 14 at the time and my sister was 18. People have underestimated me all my life. I should be used to it by now...lol...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  6. I agree that working in the hols gives you loads of character and important life lessons. Great post, Donna!

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    1. Hi Catherine! I didn't like most of those jobs back then but now that I'm older, you are right...there ARE a lot of life lessons to be learned from those summer jobs...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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