Jack of all master of none, chpt 2

The next small truck stop I worked in was across the street
from the 1st one. It was now closed. It was at the 1st truck
stop that I met ER and his brudder. We all 3 would work for
these folks for the next few years off and on. Even though I
had been robbed at gun point, I did not have a healthy fear
of any thing or any one.

During my time at this place, I remember one night a local drug
thug had bought some beer. He wanted me to give him the ice.
I told him I could not do that. He tried for a while to get me
to, but finally gave up and went out side. As I watched him he
opened the ice box and got the ice any way. Well this really
made me mad..I picked up the loaded 38 that was under the counter
walked out the door. I will never forget the look on his face.
All I said was "put it back" he did!

I learned God has to have been looking out after me. I have
heard, God watches out for fools and drunks I was not drunk.

During the time I was working nights there I also worked for
my cousin. She and her husband ran a Bingo parlor. I worked in
the back room where all the pull tabs and blackjack table were.
This was lots of fun. But I watched people who did not have
the money, loose there rent and food money. I used to like
to play blackjack some. But I gave myself a limit and when it
was gone so was I..Another thing I learned was some people are
bad no matter how good you are to them. My cousin's son could
have had the world on a silver platter. But he choose to steal
from his parents, do drugs, and ended up in prison. He is now
very sorry for all the pain he has caused her and her family.

I left for a short time to work for a bakery. I worked in a
thrift store where you can buy day old bread and pastries.
This was a short job as the pay was not to great, but I could
have all I wanted to eat..I left there 10 lbs heavier..I had
to get out quick..But I do know now that there are great
bargains at the bread thrift store..

I went back to the truck stop. I worked there until I left for
California. But one more truck stop story. I can't understand why
a van load of men would try to scare a sweet young lady like me.
It was about 3:00am when they pulled up. It was a van with a small
uhaul behind it. The van had several guys with long hair and lots
of tattoos. After they came in I learned they were a band on the
way to LA. from New York. They chatted about stuff for a while
when one of them asked if I was scared working there at night?
I told him not usually. He was looking in a glass case with nick
nacks in it. It also had some of those butterfly knives. He smiled
real big and asked me what I would do if someone came after me
with one of them. This made me pretty mad but I held my temper.
I smiled at him, then explained that I would not do any thing
except pull the string. "What string" he asked. I said the one
attached to the sawed off shot gun mounted under the counter!
Now there really was not a sawed off shot gun under the counter.
There was a loaded 38 pistol. But it made me mad that he was
trying to scare me. You should have seen him trying to get out
of the store without going past the counter..They all left pretty
quick after that..I learned when in doubt bluff your butt off.

Next chapter I put every thing I owned in my car and moved to
California..

Jack of all master of none.

With gainful employment now in my possession once again. I begin to
look back at my employment history. I have one semester of pre nursing
under my belt. That is the only college courses, the rest is what ever
looked good at the time. So here we go..

I started working in high school during the summer. I stripped floors,
painted walls, cleaned furniture and got my 1st kiss. He was the
supervisor's son. Who sent us off to work in empty building alone.
I learned a lot that summer. What was the funniest part. His dad was
trying to fix him up with my best friend. She was slimmer than me
with blond hair. But his son apparently found this little chubby girl
with brown hair a little more to his liking. But when school started
back the romance ended. But I did continue to work for the school
after school and during the summer until my last year of school.

My next job was working in a small truck stop owned by a soy bean
farmer. I worked Friday and Saturday nights 11:00pm to 7:00am then
back at 3:00pm to 11:00 on Sunday. I started out as a fry cook. The
only experience I had was cooking at home. This little truck stop
was close to one of the local bar's. So at 2:00 am when it closed,
we loaded up with drunks. I fried and scrambled eggs, sausage, ham,
bacon, and burnt toast and pancakes. I went home crying. It took a
while but I finally got the hang of it and became a pretty good
fry cook. I even had a man come back to the kitchen and give me a
tip. Said he owned a restaurant somewhere, and I had made him the
best pork chops he had ever eaten. I thanked him, but did not tell
him I had dropped one on the floor. (I had to use it we did not
have any more so I washed it off good and cooked it)

I graduated to waitress. This worked until I got out of High School.
I then went full time as 2nd shift waitress. Until the day I came
to work to find a note on the door. The IRS had taken possession of
the building and business for back taxes. I went home crying what
would I do. I had just moved out in my 1st apt. I cried for about
an hour. Then got cleaned up and went to the restaurant across the
street and got a job.

I left the restaurant next door to work in a furniture manufacturer.
We built living room furniture. I worked in the cutting room. I
helped the cutter lay out the material on a long table, then put
a pattern on it dust it with baby powder. She would then cut it.
I would bundle. I learned alot about working with women at this
job. It sucks...They whine, back bite and are plain nasty at times.
It was very hard on me. I stayed out in the floor where they
upholstered the furniture. The men out there were alot more friendly.
Of course this gave all those women lots to talk about. But it
was more fun. They taught me to play poker. Which came in handy
all the rest of my life..I did learn how to tell if living room
furniture was built well or if it would fall apart in a year. I
also learned enough about sewing and upholstering that I can do
it for myself if needed..

During my time there I also worked weekends as a nurses aid at a
nursing home. Now there is not much that can prepare you for that.
But I have always had a love for children and old people. The first
weekend I worked I could not eat for the smell. It is better now.
Most of them do not smell as bad. There are new products to help
with the work and keeping the smell down. One thing that comes to
mind, I got locked in a shower with a lady. I had gotten her
cleaned up and dressed. But when we went to get out the door would
not open. The Fire Dept had to come and take the door off. This
trained me for other jobs I did as private duty nurse and taking
care of my grandpa when he got sick.

The next job I went to was working at a small convenience store.
The one I told you about in the story where I got robbed. I learned
when some one has a gun give them money....

I am going to have to break this into more than one story..

Need Job Soon.

My plans for working at the school with my kids is not
panning out. So I am in search of employment. I really
did not want to go back into the city. But alas, I
most likely will.
Please say a prayer for me. I have an interview this
morning. It would be a good thing. It is at the edge
of the City. So I could get there from home in 15 min.
Not have to get into the worse of the traffic.

And best of all it should pay very close to what I made
at the Lab. It is doing the same thing.

Hope you all have a the best of days.