The Soundtrack of My Life, Don't Poop on My Parade

In the summer of 1988, for my summer job I was recruited by a fellow student at college to sell books door-to-door.  She had done it the previous summer and made a lot of money.  The books were educational types (though not encyclopedias, if you were wondering).  I don't know why I thought I would be good at this job, but I did.  The training lasted a week in Nashville, TN, which is where the company is headquartered.  They called that week training;  I now call it brainwashing. I still remember repeating things like, "Never go back to your headquarters during the day, " ad nauseum.  It should have been a clue that this job was going to be hard, as in really hard.  Mentally hard.  Physically hard. Okay... hard in every possible way.

About twenty other students from my school, and an equal number from a college in Louisiana and Tennesse combined, road-tripped out to Colorado where we would be selling.  I ended up living with a family in Littleton, Colorado.  Their daughter was selling books for the same company in West Virginia.  Not long after we arrived, it came to me that they moved you as far from home as possible to deter you from quitting.  It was a long ride home alone.  Even so, the number of kids who quit was HIGH.  Heck, I quit four times (at least) that first month.  I about drove my mom crazy.

Anyway, I worked the job pretty much the way they intended for two weeks.  I was exhausted, frustrated, and so many other things.  Then the miracle happened. You won't see this coming... I got diarrhea. Yep, you read that right.  And I had a reason to go back to my headquarters during the day.  I couldn't work like that.  It was sheer bliss.  I have never been before ~ or will ever be ~ as thrilled to have diarrhea as I was that day.  I got to REST... with the exception of the frequent trips to the bathroom.  I remember Ann, my recruiter and direct supervisor,  giving me grief at the end of the day when we did our nightly phone call reporting our sales. She was VERY ANGRY  that I hadn't taken Immodium and gotten right back out there.  Was she nuts?  I hoped it would last another couple of days. Immodium shmodium.  And that was the end of my relationship with Ann.  I became someone that she simply couldn't deal with and that was fine with me.

At one of the many national parks we visited on a Sunday

After I got over my Quit or Not To Quit and decided to stay, I decided to work the job My Way.  That meant I worked until I reached my Sales Quota for the day and then I knocked off.  I got to see a lot of Colorado in my spare time AND kept my sanity.

In the end, there was just me and a French girl named Valerie living at my residence (aside from the family).

Valerie on the right and another friend (who quit) on the left

Valerie was one of the most laid-back people I'd ever met. I remember the boys yanking her chain one morning (rather, trying to yank her chain). I can't remember where she got this bicycle, but I know it was free or darn near. She learned to ride it carrying at 30 pound book bag on her shoulder and fell off repeatedly in the beginning, but she kept at it. At night, she'd lean it against the fence. No chain. No nothing. So, back to the boys and their prank... One morning they yell up the stairs, "Valerie, come quick. Someone's stolen your bike!"

She peeks around the door, waves her hand, and says, "Lucky girl."

They were so disappointed. No one took that bike...

I learned a lot that summer, but I got to see in action what a Type B (or C) personality looks like. Nothing phased Valerie.

I look back on this time and am astounded at the amount of growing and changing that happened in just one summer. You could say I was on a Rocky Mountain High...

 

 

Have you ever had a job that was just really hard?  Did it burn you out?  Or maybe just a summer job that was really bizarre that you wanted to quit? Have you ever met someone like Valerie (or maybe you are someone like Valerie!)?


If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time, with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all participants at the bottom of each of these posts:

StMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Cherdo on the Flipside 

Holli's Hoots and Hollers 

THE DOGLADY'S DEN