INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKFORCE

INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKFORCE - My first attempt to make money was when I was about 12 years old.  I grew sugar peas and took them to market with my grandparents.  Sold a lot of baskets.  But as soon as I got paid for a basket of peas I spent the money on candy and chips.  In my minds eye I can still see my grandmother laughing and shaking her head.

When I was fifteen years old I helped my uncle with his business - making exposed aggregate panels for building projects.  I was a laborer and boy did I ever labor.  My days were spent mixing concrete in the hot sun, which wore me out about mid morning.  Not fun work but it did motivate me to try harder in school.

When I was sixteen years old I worked part-time for a company in Lemoyne called Frosty Dog.  Our product?  Chocolate covered ice cream in the shape of a hot dog.  This was assembly line work and I enjoyed keeping up with production. All was going well until a massive ammonia leak freaked out the neighborhood around the building and they convinced authorities to shut down the business.

During my senior year in High School I worked for a place called AeroSeal.  This was also assembly line work but the product was primarily car products in pressurized cans, for example, ether and lubricant were big sellers.  Even though I was a new employee the owner sent me to Chicago for training.  I thought this was a big deal.  All was going well until authorities became aware of massive chemicals being dumped in the ground by the owner and they shut down the business.

Times are different now.  In the 1960's most of my friends worked at an early age, realizing that hard work will eventually pay off.  We were independent back then and didn't look to the government to get a hand out, because this would take us down a path of dependence and a life of struggling to simply survive.  We had dreams and knew they wouldn't be fulfilled without working toward a goal. 

Today the political leaders in America are disappointing.  Hillary Clinton said to a large audience yesterday “You don’t have to take a job, as so many people in my generation did, just to have health insurance,”  What has happened to leaders who inspire people to excellence?  The masses respond by voting for people like Hillary who make these empty promises, and then wonder what happened to our country.

For related posts on this blog about jobs I've had click HERE