Loose Laces

After my first senior year in high school, I managed to get a job with a fellow that lived not far from me. He was a pipe insulation contractor, a farmer, and a carpenter. His name was "Pappy" Ward, and he hired me at a dollar per hour, which was twice as much as I ever made working for the local farmers.

My first job was at Tusculum College, near Greenville, Tennessee. Our crew was insulating new underground steam pipes, it was August, and the black foam insulation smelled like brimstone when it was cut, and it wore down the skin like sandpaper. The next day we came back and caught up with the pipe fitters.

On Wednesday, I mowed Pappy's yard, which was on a hillside and full of large boulders and flower beds to maneuver around.

Didn't work on Thursday, but on Friday he took me back to Tusculum to get caught up again. This time, he left me on my own to do a couple of hours work. Of course, he forgot I was there, and didn't come back to get me until 4:30. Some of the guys on the job had already warned me that he would try to get out of paying me for the full day, and they were correct. I insisted, and he reluctantly complied.

On Monday following, we started work on a tobacco barn for another farmer. We completed it in a few days, and I spent the rest of the summer mowing and doing farm work for Pappy until school started.

In my second senior year of high school—1962-1963— (I managed to fail Algebra three times and had to do some make-up classes), I decided I needed to get a second shift-job and try to save some money to buy a car. My cousin Bob and I drove to Klopman Mills to put in applications. On the way, we had to stop twice and reinsert the drive shaft on his '49 Chevy. The rear universal joint needle bearings were missing and the joint itself kept falling out. We filled out the papers at the mill, were interviewed and hired on the spot. We started work 4:00 pm the same day, Monday, January 21 1963.

My mom drove me to work that afternoon, and about 6:00 I began feeling bad, and in another two hours, I had to call her to come retrieve me. My auspicious career in public works was off to a less than glorious beginning. My old childhood nemesis wasn't quite through with me; I had strep throat. In a week, I was back to work, but little did I know that my life adventures were about to begin.