Working and Studying

On that sunny September Day, I decided to start at one end of Mt. Hope Boulevard (or was it Avenue?) and work my way down until I landed a job. My first stop was the Monroe County Department of Social Services. At the front desk I asked if there were any openings and within a few minutes, an HR person was standing in front of me offering me a paid internship. Apparently, they had one slot left and I was the lucky guy to fill it. I had no idea what I would be doing, but it paid $4.25/hour (still the minimum wage) and I could work about 10 hours a week. Not bad. Within a couple of weeks I was working.

My first job was sitting in a room for several hours a day putting sheets of paper in order by client number. I think the sheets were called transmittals. Mind-numbing work, but what made it somewhat interesting was that I was joined by two welfare recipients who were in a "welfare to work" program. One lady was nice, but not that bright, but the other lady was both smart and nice. Anyway, I did that job for about four months. Next, I moved to another office where I had to write information on these little cards and file them in a metal rack. I don't remember why I was doing that, but I did that for several months until senior year started. (I didn't go home that summer, but kept working at the MCDSS.) Next, I worked in Accounts Payable. I don't remember what exactly my job was, but it involved writing numbers on 8.5 x 11 cards, making sure the totals were balanced, and filing them. The pace of the job was what you would expect at a county government agency: glacial. I wasn't a believer back then so I would sometimes drink too much the night before and show up to work with a hangover. The hangover didn't really affect my performance and no one noticed. Well, they noticed I had a hangover and the two older women in AP would yell at me for drinking too much, but I could still write numbers on cards, balance the totals, and file them. I did this job until I graduated.

I met some great people at MCDSS: Curtis, Elaine, Betty, Hank, Sandy, Lisa, others. The "internship" lasted two years. I think at some point it stopped being an internship and became a regular part-time job. I guess they liked me. As graduation approached, I still had no idea what I wanted to do, but I knew that I didn't want a job in public service.

I knew that, but after I graduated, I stayed at MCDSS and worked full-time in the Accounts Payable Department. I had nowhere else to go and it paid the bills. I also started a second job at night. With my newly minted college degree in hand...I became a janitor.