Summer work

I didn't work at school the first two years of college. My first year was a drag. Once I got to school, I realized that I didn't want to be there. My roommate and I got along but barely. I muddled through that first year. When I got home in May, I started looking for a job right away. In those days, we checked the classifieds in the newspaper for jobs. Sears was hiring. I wanted to be a stock boy but they started me on the register. Back then, being a cashier didn't involve just scanning bar codes; you had to key prices in, manually process returns, and if you made a mistake, there was the dreaded "void" process. I lasted three days. Within a week, I found a job at Harrow's, a pool store, working in the stockroom: my dream job. It really was a good job. I spent most of the day lifting heavy boxes and getting buff! And since it was a pool store, a lot of pretty girls came into the store with minimal attire. Like I said, a dream job! I returned to the job during Christmas break; in the winter, Harrow's sold artificial Christmas trees and stuff.

My sophomore year was a lot better as I settled in with a good bunch of friends...and, I got a girlfriend. I still didn't work during the school year, but my summer and Christmas earnings kept me in beer and pizza. After another stint at Harrow's the summer before my junior year, I went back to Rochester with a plan to get a part-time job. I could definitely use the money and I needed something to suck up some of my spare time. So, on a sunny day in September 1983, I put on a non-wrinkled pair of pants, shirt, and tie and headed out to Mt. Hope Boulevard to find a job.