____________________
(continuation from post of 09/20/17)
After such a happy and successful run my first summer earning college money on the kill floor at IBP, I decided to do it again the summer of 1979. The living arrangements were to be the same - I rented an apartment nestled in a corner on the first floor of Charlie's Plumbing at 6th and McMasters in Amarillo. That aspect alone of my time in Amarillo was a very bright spot. The rent was cheap and the store owners, Charlie and Johnnie Scholl, were awesome folks who were friends of my brother when he worked there as a lawyer. Charlie was a gregarious, fun-loving extrovert, and his wife was just as gregarious and fun-loving. The moment we met was one of the few times in life when an instant and lasting connection was made with folks that are just good people. At the time they had a toddler named Chip who had the run of the place.
But of course the purpose was to work another summer earning college money for my sophomore year. This time knowing a bit more about what to expect, within a few days of arriving I applied and requested B shift again, which worked out. I was hoping to be fat washer again also, but this time I wasn't injured so didn't have a reason to be there; I instead got a job that had a higher grade, thus paid a bit more ($6.05/hr), which was alright by me. In fact, before long I grew to like it, though there were no gaps of time that allowed me to explore as I'd done the previous year.
The job was located adjacent to the fat washing table, next to the gut conveyor and underneath the head line. My duties were to pack five kinds of meat into 80-lb boxes - cheek meat, lips, head meat, spleens and hearts. The exercise was great since they were heavier than the 40-pounders from the previous year, and the pace was much faster, which kept me on my toes. A great job. However, since there were two workers within my area (the head meat cleaners) and since I couldn't wander hither and yon, I didn't sing as much.
No comments:
Post a Comment