Summer Jobs

A conversation at our New Years’ Day Open House got me thinking about my summer job experiences while in high school and university.

We were talking about the summer I spent assisting my father set up and open the first incarnation of his used bookstore. We cleared an outbuilding on the farm, he built and installed shelves, and decided which books he could bear to part with. I moved them from the house – from shelves, cardboard boxes under beds and precarious piles. Then organized by categories of our devising, shelved and priced them, and waited on the customers who found us, including neighbours, folks out for a drive in the country, and other booklovers.
Retail not for me, but retained enthusiasm for used bookstores and reading.

Other summer job experiences included:
Working as a live-in mother’s helper in a suburban Toronto household.
I recall commenting in a letter to a friend that I could see what was in it for him, but wasn’t sure what she was getting out of it.
Housewifing not for me (in case I didn’t already know that), introduced to bagels.

A summer working at a small factory contracted to making wiring harnesses for Ford, being a member of the UAW but without the high wages for which the auto industry is known. Only worked for one day on the line, then moved to a giant stapling machine, which with explosive bursts of noise stapled plastic clips to some sort of spline. Also worked in the office which overlooked the shop floor, making labels for parts for the new model year, and in quality control, where completed harnesses were fit onto a test board so the lights lit up in sequence.
Assembly lines not for me, but getting up early ok.

Writing a grant application for Opportunities for Youth, a federal job creation program where the potential employees could propose a project (this was the 70s), presumably with the agreement of the potential employer. I don’t think it was my main selling point, but I recall making the argument that white Anglo-Saxon farmers’ daughters, the potential employees, were a minority group. The project did receive funding, although I got another job and my sister worked on it.
Grant writing may be in my future.

Summer job recollections, anyone?

Wendy