Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Pool Party

The first job I ever had was running the pool shack at the country club in my hometown. My best friend, a friend from church and I were in charge of keeping the concession stand open, stocked with supplies and clean the summer after my sophomore year of high school. We made what seemed like a fortune--$1.25 an hour. Now,  considering that the girls at the local A and W made a whole 75 cents an hour, we were rolling in dough.

The funny thing about this job was after an initial meeting to explain what we were to do, no other adult ever checked on us the rest of the summer. It was teenage heaven. No one told us what to do. We decided the work schedule. We ordered the candy and ice cream. We cleaned the french fryer and grills when need be. 

Some of my favorite summer memories revolve around my sixteenth summer. We flirted with the lifeguards,  caddies, and members. We listened to the Watergate trial on the radio (spurred on by one of the lifeguards--a college boy!), sang along with the Top 40 hits on the radio, tortured the flies (a LONG story) and lived the teenage dream. We made enough money to keep gas in our cars--of course, gas was 35 cents a gallon at the time. And if we knew where to look, there were gas wars that brought the price down to 25 cents a gallon! We could buy all the cute new clothes we wanted, so we could start the new school year with just the right look. 
Fireworksphoto © 2008 bayasaa | more info (via: Wylio)


As the 4th of July approached, we spent a good two weeks looking for the perfect outfit. We had to work all day and wanted to look our best. And once work was over, there were the fireworks to enjoy. We opened early, took turns sitting by the pool, and kept things running smoothly during pool breaks. It was a long day, but we had a lot of fun and got paid besides!

Once summer was over I was asked to come inside and waitress during the school year. I never did get to run the shack again, but I often gazed out the windows at the pool while working and smiled as I remember a golden summer.



5 comments:

  1. That sounds like it was a special summer.

    I hope this year's Independence Day celebration was wonderful too.

    SAS

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  2. I believe this lives on, although maybe not with as much freedom as you had. I had two students a couple of years ago run the snack bar at their neighborhood pool. They talked on & on about it. You've made me think this particular summer was wonderful, a nice memory of those free-wheeling teen years, yes?

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  3. Oh, you brought memories back from my first job...lemonade stand with funnel cake and cheese sticks. It's amazing what priorities I had when I was a teenagers...cute clothes, great tunes, and cute boys. Do you still dress up for the fourth?

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  4. Dream job! It was all about the clothes, tunes and boys back then! Happy days! Thanks for the memories.

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  5. So much independence, freedom and fun for a first job! And now there are sweet fun memories. Thank you for sharing.

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