My first summer job lasted exactly 21/2 hours. I was hired at a soft-serve ice cream stand at Roxbury Park. In 1964, cones with curls on top ruled.
You could only practice when you had a customer.
The product couldn’t be dumped back into the machine.
I couldn’t twirl that stuff to save my life. I disgraced my paper hat – started at noon, fired at 2:30.
Back then, everyone sought summer jobs.
My friend Becky already had her license. She drove her mom’s car to Idlewild Park’s Storybook Forest on Thursdays through Sundays to enchant children as Little Miss Muffet. On sizzling days she nearly melted into a puddle of storybook ooze wearing her heavy costume.
But the job had perks. That summer, she dated the dashing captain of the Good Ship Lollipop.
Cincinnati Cathy (Hornerstown Cathy then) took a waitressing job at a family-owned restaurant. Her supervisor was the owner’s grouchy daughter.
One night, Cathy put the giant vat of Hershey Syrup on a shelf without tightening the lid. The next morning “Grouchette,” reaching for it, became a human fudgesicle.
Luckily, Cathy didn’t get fired.
Scrambling to find other employment after Roxbury, I landed at Fun City. Located along Somerset Pike, it featured a huge swimming pool and six-ride amusement park, attracting kids of all ages.
The “swim gate” was the best spot to work. You could check out everyone who arrived – most importantly, the boys!
I usually wound up in the ride ticket booth, selling 10 cent tickets to frazzled parents and whiny little kids.
The job paid 50 cents an hour. If your cash drawer didn’t jive with the numbered tickets on the roll, the boss docked your pay.
After losing 75 cents once and 35 cents another time, I quickly mastered change-making!
That skill has served me well.
Now, 44 years later, I’ve come full-circle. I’m in a booth selling 10 cent tickets again, this time for my church’s summer festivals.
For the most part, I love my customers. But I recall exceptions.
An irate man demanded his $1.20 back when the grill ran out of hot dogs. Each 10 cent ticket is clearly marked “No Refunds.”
I suggested that he sell them to the lady standing in line behind him, but he belligerently refused.
With a dozen impatient folks waiting, I reluctantly gave him the cash. Then I reached under my counter to grab the super-soaker squirt gun I’d brought along.
As he turned to leave, I took my shot. I nailed him square in the back of the head, then stashed my weapon.
The other customers squealed gleefully as he looked around for the source of the “cloudburst.”
“Will you get in trouble for that?” laughed my next customer.
“Not a chance,” I assured him. “Besides, I used holy water!”
Michele Mikesic Bender is a Johnstown resident and a member of The Tribune-Democrat’s Readership Advisory Committee.
Local News
Related Photos
-
File Photo
Discussion
MICHELE MIKESIC BENDER | No cure for the summer job blues
- Local News
-
-
Mild winter speeds work: Entertainment venue may be complete by end of May
An unusually mild winter has accelerated construction of a new outdoor entertainment venue in Johnstown.
-
Man jailed on rash of charges
A Patton man is being held on $100,000 bond after police said he threatened to kill a woman, her family and himself unless she talked to him about a protection-from-abuse order.
-
Cambria abolishes 16 jobs
Following through on promises to cut budget costs, the Cambria County commissioners voted Thursday to abolish 16 positions, including nine full-time jobs.
-
Blogging with heart
Anyone else have this issue: The more I know, the more I want to learn.
As I am writing my heart month stories for this week’s packages, I occasionally come across a term or description unfamiliar to me. So I look it up. And then the definition or article has something else that sounds important, so I look that up. -
Wozniak defends his support of drilling bill
State Sen. John Wozniak, D-Westmont, one of only seven Democrats to support the Marcellus Shale legislation adopted this week, said the bill protects the environment and provides help to local communities impacted by the natural gas drilling.
-
Businessman hoping to unseat Wozniak
Tim Houser uses two words – “challenging opportunity” – to describe his goal in this year’s elections.
-
Judge tosses evidence in robbery
A Cambria County prosecutor said he’ll have to drop robbery charges against a Twin Rocks woman after much of his evidence was suppressed by a judge.
-
Shooting defendant pleads to attempted murder
A Philadelphia man pleaded guilty Thursday in county court to attempted murder and theft in a Nov. 18 home invasion in which the homeowner was shot.
-
Garrett man sought in Somerset crime
An arrest warrant has been issued for Samuel McFarland Jr., 33, of Berlin Street in Garrett in connection with Saturday’s robbery of two boys outside Dollar General on East Main Street in Somerset.
-
City man shot during alleged burglary
A Johnstown man was shot during a burglary attempt in Indiana County and then burglarized a home in Armstrong County before he was arrested, authorities said Thursday.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
