I spent a lot of time pumping gasoline in the summer of '68. I was helping out down to Olympic Heights service station. I wasn't a real employee as I didn't get an hourly wage. If I had it would have had to have been a dollar and sixty cents an hour, that was the minimum wage then. Gas itself was up to thirty four cents ! Most people just got two dollars worth or a fill up. That seemed to be the going thing anyway. I wasn't complaining though because I got to be around cars and engines. Uncle George, not really a Uncle but what I addressed him as, promised to teach me some stuff. I got to hang out down there too, which I figured made me pretty cool with the girls. There were a couple of the older girls that could drive and they would stop in for gas. Fifty cents worth but really they wanted me to wash the windshield and stuff. I gladly did. You see I figured I was just being eye candy for them and that couldn't be a bad thing. Shoot, they would have to give in to temptation sooner or later. Ah, the optimism of youth. It was a good summer.
Most days I would get to help work on some car or maybe an outboard motor. We worked on both. Uncle George,true to his word,taught me a lot of things. The thing is, he taught me more than engines,he taught me about life and working. He never said a lot and was always soft spoken. I can honestly say I never saw him really angry. It was this calm, measured approach to everything that influenced me the most. He always seemed to be in control. He was a good businessman and I began to understand why. He treated everyone equally and fairly. He listened when you spoke. And one day he even let me drive his pick up truck into the garage. It was a manual shift and I jerked it forward, tipping over the toolbox in the back, but he just laughed and explained I needed to ease the clutch out. I felt a little foolish and a little grown up at the same time.
At the end of the day Uncle George would give me two dollars. I was happy enough with that. In 1968 a movie ticket was one fifty and a box of JuJu bees were fifty cents. So, I was good to go. I had no girls to take to the movie,yet, but I'd probably get a few extra bucks before I did.
Yes I would say the summer of '68 was an education. Probably one of the more important summers of my youth. While the other kids were off to camp or perhaps playing ball I was learning things. I was learning about cars, but more importantly about life. I got to hang out with the men folk ! We shared men stuff too. There was a certain magazine ,hidden in a toolbox, that I got a sneak peek at. Yup, I was definitely a man now. It was a little bit embarrassing though and I tried not to show it. Yeah, no big deal.
Olympic Heights Service, down on the Three Mile Harbor road was my classroom for that summer. It was an education that much is sure. I would recommend it to any young man. The education I got there is better than any thing you can learn in college and I got paid to learn it ! Two dollars every day. Not a bad deal at all.
Most days I would get to help work on some car or maybe an outboard motor. We worked on both. Uncle George,true to his word,taught me a lot of things. The thing is, he taught me more than engines,he taught me about life and working. He never said a lot and was always soft spoken. I can honestly say I never saw him really angry. It was this calm, measured approach to everything that influenced me the most. He always seemed to be in control. He was a good businessman and I began to understand why. He treated everyone equally and fairly. He listened when you spoke. And one day he even let me drive his pick up truck into the garage. It was a manual shift and I jerked it forward, tipping over the toolbox in the back, but he just laughed and explained I needed to ease the clutch out. I felt a little foolish and a little grown up at the same time.
At the end of the day Uncle George would give me two dollars. I was happy enough with that. In 1968 a movie ticket was one fifty and a box of JuJu bees were fifty cents. So, I was good to go. I had no girls to take to the movie,yet, but I'd probably get a few extra bucks before I did.
Yes I would say the summer of '68 was an education. Probably one of the more important summers of my youth. While the other kids were off to camp or perhaps playing ball I was learning things. I was learning about cars, but more importantly about life. I got to hang out with the men folk ! We shared men stuff too. There was a certain magazine ,hidden in a toolbox, that I got a sneak peek at. Yup, I was definitely a man now. It was a little bit embarrassing though and I tried not to show it. Yeah, no big deal.
Olympic Heights Service, down on the Three Mile Harbor road was my classroom for that summer. It was an education that much is sure. I would recommend it to any young man. The education I got there is better than any thing you can learn in college and I got paid to learn it ! Two dollars every day. Not a bad deal at all.
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