I was about 10 or 11 when I got my first job at Hoffman's Grocery at the corner of Gilsey and West Liberty. It was a mom and pop grocery. I think I got about about 2 dollars a week. I swept the floor, cleaned the shelves and other menial tasks. Between Hostess Cup Cakes, candy bars and Royal Crown Cola there never was any money left to get paid. I probably still owe Mr. Hoffman some money plus interest. Like the National Debt. I also delivered the Enquirer for Geo Borgman. He had the largest route in the city, 2300 Sundays and 900 daileys. Geo insisted that we put the paper on the porch. Now days they put the paper on the sidewalk, that's only when they miss the gutter. I like the way they double bag the paper when it rains, only problem is both bags go the same way so the paper still gets wet. Jack, can't you teach those carriers the proper way to bag a paper?
I got my first real job working for Krogers for .75 cents an hour. For that I quit high school in my junior year. Show you how smart I was. I think that was the only time mom did anything wrong letting me quit. Going back to when I was in grade school at St. Lawrence I was on the football team. When I was in the 7th and 8th grade we won the CYO City Championship both years. Our pastor was Monsignour Wagner whose family owned the Wagner Bottling Co and Ft. Scott Camp near New Baltimore. The football team got to go to Ft. Scott for 2 weeks free. The first year the camp was over booked. The cabins held 4 campers in bunk beds, since they needed extra space they put an iron cot in the middle of the room. I was on the top bunk, on the first night I fell out of bed hitting the iron cot and scraping my leg from my ankle to my knee. I had a nice 18 inch gash. (that's an estimation) Needless to say I couldn't go swimming the first week. That was a two week vacation each year my family couldn't afford. It takes a lot of money to raise 6 children and 6 bartenders.
When I graduated from St. Lawrence all my friends went to Elder. We couldn't afford the high tuition ($40.00), of course I was wasting that much money from my part time jobs. Maybe if I went to Elder I might have got a little more disciplence from the Priest than I got from the teachers at Western Hills.
