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
-
-
Proposed bill would expand use of traffic-light cameras
Some call it the hand of “big brother,” others are convinced cameras at signal lights would be effective in curbing red-light runners and ultimately saving lives.
-
Minister's trial date set
An issue has been resolved over the report from an examination of a girl allegedly taken by her mother to a Bedford motel to have sex with a traveling minister, clearing the way for a trial.
-
AP: Almost half of new veterans seek disability
America’s newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
-
Geistown beginning crime watch program
Residents will patrol Geistown streets in the coming weeks as part of a community watch program.
-
Persons of the Week: Nanty Glo vets will remember fallen comrades
Michael Kurtz, Tom Kasecky and Steve Kasecky will be among members of the Loy A. Douglass Post 3489 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Nanty Glo who will be honoring fallen veterans today, Memorial Day.
-
AG candidates face potential conflicts of interest
Both candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general have family ties that could pose a conflict of interest for the one who is elected as the state’s next chief legal officer.
-
Lawmakers: Capitol rallies unpersuasive
Nancy Richey stepped to the podium with a microphone at the Capitol rotunda with the hope that the right people would hear her message.
-
Richland closer to new chief
The search for Richland’s next police chief is winding down.
-
In brief: Thunderstorm downs trees, knocks out power
A late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm brought high winds, hard rain and hail to the Cambria-Somerset region.
- District Deaths May 28, 2012
- More Local News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
