I remember flying from Hartford, Conn., home to Maine for Christmas when I was 18 and working at Hartford Fire Insurance Co., and the price for the trip was $20, and I got a meal! Also, when the refreshment cart was wheeled up the aisle, there was room on either side to walk by to go to the restroom. Unlike flying today on the elegant Sardine Airlines. With the seats so close and so small that you must become good friends with your neighboring passengers, because everyone was in everyone’s business.
Oh, well, there is not a chance in hell that I would pay the ungodly price to be crushed into one of those flying crashes “waiting to happen!”
I recall that the pay was a pittance, not just at Hartford Fire, but any place that hired us “girls” compared to what it is now, and I had to room with someone to afford an apartment. Our apartment was over a liquor store. I have to admit it was fun! I was a keypunch operator, and if that sounds interesting, the most exciting thing I did was to re-create the cards that the machines mangled so that the “computer operators” could mangle them again. BTW their pay was considerable more than us “girls” pay.
I suspect that they didn’t have to go through the humiliation of the “6-month review” from the big boss with my Manager in attendance. We were told not to say anything except “yes, sir or no, sir.” My Boss Mrs. Bill usually drank her lunch and wasn’t expecting a little hick from the sticks to break the rules.
Surprise! When Big Guy told us that we hadn’t been doing good enough work to deserve a raise, I spoke up and told him how I had been put on the machine to make new cards from mangled ones and had been told by my Boss that I had several “perfect batches,” so I think I deserve a raise. As you might expect, that went over like a lead balloon. Mrs. Bill told me in very clear words that I was lucky to keep my job. The reason I had the brass to speak up for myself was because my Mother said to “always see in your mind the big boss with only his underwear on. And that was one sight I never want to see again.
That is not the last time my mouth got me in trouble, and I might share more later. Ask me about “dating” and our “apartment” conveniently located over the liquor store.
Gotta go, this week, I am trying to finish Book 8 in the Ruby & Nolan series and revise the synopses of my books on my website, http://www.brendacolbathbooks.com. I do that every two or three months to keep them fresh.
All my books are available in eBook and or paperback on the following places here in America and Europe: Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, Smashwords, Tolino OverDrive, bibliotheca, Baker & Taylor, BorrowBox, Hoopla, Vivlio, Palace Marketplace, Odilo, Gardners, Amazon
Of course, if you are perusing my website and something catches your eye, simply click on it and you will be taken on a magical carpet ride and can make it your own.
See you next time…