It seems that every business here and in other towns we have visited are looking for help. Down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast everywhere you go to eat has a sign posted, “help needed.” It seems that last year, during the worst part of COVID, places were scaled back. Some even shut down, and now we have all become lackadaisical in our lives and we had just rather stay home.
BUT—how do we live? How do we support our families? How do we eat and buy this big-ticket gas we need for our vehicles? One of our grandsons has a golf cart that will transport six or eight people. I wonder how long it would take us to go the coast in this, counting the times we would need to stop and recharge the batteries. I am positive this would be lots cheaper.
Roy and I were talking about this the other day and decided some people are only trained and educated in one profession. For instance, he only ever worked at a service station during school and then went to work for Sunflower sixty-two years ago as a bag boy/stocker. I, on the other hand, have had a multitude of different jobs. When I was fourteen and in the tenth grade, the State Farm Insurance man came into class and hired me because I could type 100 words per minute and promised to pay me seventy-five cents an hour. But you know that was an excellent start for my training in a working world. I have held many office positions because of this first job because, believe it or not, experience will help you fill a position quicker than a college education. I was hired over college grads in several instances.
I have held some bizarre positions — a secretary for a barge company based underneath the Mississippi River bridge, an executive assistant to a hospital administrator, a nurse/clerk for a chiropractor, and even a hay truck driver. The uncanniest job I ever hired on for one day and quit the next was that of a cadaver stenographer. I worked at Kings Daughter’s Hospital in Greenville, MS. The first morning, my boss, a pathologist, asked me to grab my pad and come with him. We were walking down the hall and stopped at the door that read, “Morgue.” As we walked into the room, I could see a sheet draped over a body lying on the examintion table. My heart was booming so hard inside my chest I nearly fainted as I asked, very quietly, “Why are we here?” He said, “I am going to autopsy this body, and I will tape the results, but you will need to take the notes to transcribe.” Well, I really needed to go to the bathroom quickly and never return to that room, ever! That was the first and only time I ever walked out on a job.
We love watermelon and I really love this salad made with watermelon.
6 cups of cubed seeded watermelon, ½ chopped red onion, 12 cup of feta cheese, 1/3 cup of fresh chopped mint leaves, Balsamic vinegar as dressing. Mix all together in a large bowl and drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar. Served cold.
