It was not too long ago that I was looking for work and I started my resume. This brought me to a point of reflection and deep introspection. This led to my list: MY CAREER PATH LIST. I’m sure you have one. It is a list of all the jobs you’ve had in your lifetime. Some of the jobs were career builders and others were hardly memorable but all of them serve a purpose. Without those jobs, you would not be where you are today.
My entire list is very long and I won’t bore you with it. I am going to introduce you to the section that covers my Junior High through College years. In my opinion, it is some of my best work.
1. Summer 1978. Collect Eggs at the May Chicken Farm. 36 eggs per flat. 12 flats per case. 12 cases a day. 30 cents per case. Every day. All summer long. By the end of the summer, I earned enough money to buy a stereo with AM/FM and an 8-track tape player. I listened to the Bob Seger and The Village People over and over. It helped make me the man I am today.
2. Fall 1978. Collecting Chickens at the May Chicken Farm. Every year the brightest Randolph County had to offer would gather to drag chickens out of their cages and stuff them in crates to be trucked to KFC to become extra crispy. (The PETA investigation continues.)
3. Summer 1979. Baling Hay for Dean Crouch. Dean thought he could save money on bailing twine by packing the bales to be 250 lbs each. This was a tough job for an 80 lb, 15 year old.
4. Fall 1980. Drawing Spots on Cows for Dean Crouch. This was my first job as a professional artist. To register his Holsteins, Dean had to submit paperwork that clearly showed the location of each individual cow’s spots. I stood in cow poop for two weeks, chasing individual cows just to get a good look at their spots. I’m just glad I didn’t have to draw their udders.
5. May 1982. Drawing a portrait of Joetta McKissak’s father several months after his death. A big mistake I never plan to repeat. It is very hard to capture the real person when you have never met them. It would have been much easier if I could have chased him around a muddy pasture before he died.
6. January 1983 – June 1983. Night nurse for my adopted grandparents, Ralph and Frona Gardner. Ralph was very ill and Frona needed someone to wake up every two hours, walk Ralph to the bathroom, give him his pills, and put on a new nitro patch. I helped around the house as best I could and slept on their couch during this time. He died a couple months later. This is one of the most meaningful jobs I’ve had but did not realize it at the time.
7. March 1983 – August 1983. Senior Pastor of Cowan United Methodist Church (now closed). Actually, I was an 18-year-old pastor wannabe to several seniors. The congregation of 12 octogenarians had a difficult time meeting all the church’s obligations while living on fixed incomes. I knew I was in trouble when my $35 paycheck bounced due to insufficient funds.
8. May 1982 – August 1986. Summer Help at the Davis / Purdue Research Farm. On my first day, we castrated 200, 80 lb. pigs. I think the fact that I returned for my second day impressed the guys quite a bit.
9. August 1983 – August 1986. Junior High Youth Pastor at Union Chapel Church. I was the first program staff person hired into this little country church that now boasts several thousand in attendance. No one has ever thanked me for this.
10. September 1983. 16+ (It’s a size, not an age.) Clothing Store for very large women. Several friends and I helped open a new store in the Muncie Mall by unloading a truck and hanging size 36, crotchless panties ($6.95 each) in the windows.
11. October 1983. 16+ (It’s a size, not an age.) Because we were such hard workers, the district manager put us up for the night in Dayton, Ohio to help open this store. There is nothing like being the best at what you do, even if that is displaying skimpy undergarments for big and tall women.
12. November 1983 – May 1985. 16+ (It’s a size, not an age.) Because of my stellar performance in setting up a display (and I do mean DISPLAY), I was asked to join the team in Muncie. This store was wall-to-wall (and ceiling) mirrors. My job was to keep these sparkling.
13. September 1985 – December 1985. Busboy at Luna’s. I quit when the owner reached into the trash to retrieve a dinner roll that was uneaten by a previous customer. The owner ordered me to save every unbitten dinner roll and return it to circulation for the next customer. Eating dinner out has never been the same.
14. December 1985 – February 1986. Counter Staff for Taco Grande. Highlight of my time: free food. I gained 10 lbs in three months.
15. February 1986 – August 1987. Shift Manager for Taco Grande. Highlight of my responsibilities included the sorting of beans one at a time. This prevented rocks from slipping into the mix. Heavy responsibility.
I graduated from Ball State University in 1987 and moved on with my life. This, of course, is another list.
I would love to hear your lists. Please email them to austinacr@aol.com. I am sure they will find their way on this site very soon!
