When I look back at when I was a teenager, I was always trying to figure out a way to make money. I wasn’t in love with money, nor was I materialistic, but I loved the independence of money. Back in the 1970’s, I burned almost all of my money on calculators and music. Find below, the work that I did, that really never found its way on to a rsum. I have accomplished a lot in my work life, but I am equally as proud of my pre-career as well.
One important note. Somehow, somewhere, something changed. When I was a boy, me and all of my friends wanted to work. We wanted to learn how to make money, become independent of our parents, and not have an allowance. Today, it is clear that not all teenagers work. It seems almost as if the ones that work are looked down upon, by the non workers. For me, that seems upside down.
My first “job”, if you can call it that, was mowing lawns. My brother, Dave, and two other brothers, Dave and John Dagirmanjian, decided to band together and mow lawns. I remember knocking on all the neighbor’s doors hoping that one of them wanted to mow their lawn.
The man that lived next to the Dagirmanjians was named Mr. Lewis. He was a older and retired and retired military. He paid us about $5 to mow his lawn but he demanded absolute perfection. After we were done, and before we collected our money, he would come out and analyze our work. We were required to mow, bag and trim his lawn.
Kids today live off of allowance, we did not. Moreover, the world has changed remarkably. Our teenagers do not mow lawns any more. Apparently, one must speak Spanish to do yardwork nowadays.
| Bus Boy |
| Fass Brothers Family Seafood Restaurant |
1976 |
This was the year I got my driver’s license, and the year I could start making some real money. Or so I thought. They opened up a new restaurant in Crofton, Maryland called Fass Brothers Family Seafood. It was a place where virtually all the food was fried. They were hiring bus boys and I signed up. Back then minimum wage was a little over $2.00/hour, but at the time, it seemed like an enormous amount of money to me.
Bus boys in a restaurant are the low end of the totem pole. The waiters, cooks, and dish washers all made more money than me, but it made no difference to me. I was determined to be the best bus boy I could be. After the restaurant was open for a few months, they decided that they did not need all the bus boys, and they let some of us go. I was among the ones that departed. I was truly hurt. I worked my heart out to bus tables. Most the other bus boys knew that I could clean and clear a table faster and more thoroughly than any other. But that was not the reason, I was let go.
I was let go, because I was not a very popular best boy. Many of the other bus boys were either lazy or not very smart. I was not afraid to let them know that. I was also was not shy about letting the boss know. I really didn’t care what the other bus boys thought, because after all, I was the best one. Or so I thhought. They let me go, and I learned a valuable lesson about getting along with my coworkers.
| Fried Chicken Cook |
| Roy Rogers |
1976 |
It didn’t take long for me to find another job as a fried chicken cook at Roy Rogers fast food restaurant. I worked behind the scenes to prepare the chicken, and then stick it in the oven to be fried. Then once it was done, I would stick them in the bins to be collected by the cashiers to give to customers.
Once the restaurant closed, our real work began. Our job was to clean the kitchen and it was hard and dirty work. You are already tired since it is about 10 pm, and now you have to clean all the grease and oil off of everything. I remember that I would come home and I was so tired and dirty.
| Host and Call Out Delivery |
| Golden Temple Chinese Restaurant |
1977 |
Despite having landed a good job at Roy Roger’s, I kept looking for other opportunities, and I found the perfect job for me! There was a little Chinese restaurant in Bowie, Maryland called Golden Temple. I had two responsibilities. First, I was the person that greeted the customers when they first came in the restaurant. I was the only person in the restaurant that spoke perfect English. Once they were seated, I was also responsible for giving them a pot of hot Chinese tea.
I was also responsible for answering the phone and writing down the orders and giving them orders to the cooks in the kitchen. Apparently, before I came, there were a lot of order errors because the people answering the phone could not understand the customers very well. I obviously solved that problem, but it was more difficult for me to communicate with the kitchen workers. We created a little short hand which we both could understand. I would write SFR for Shrimp Fried Rice for example.
This was a totally awesome job. Just thinking back on that time makes me want to do it all over again. First, I was now making $4.00 per hour! I was rich beyong my wildest imagination. It was really fun being the only person that spoke English in the restaurant. I had to learn some Chinese in order to get along with my coworkers. Still today, almost all the Chinese that I know is from working at that restaurant.
But the major reason why this was the best job ever. In a Chinese restaurant, the workers do not eat the food on the menu. They make real Chinese food for internal consumption. It was some of the best Chinese food that I have ever eaten. These were real Chinese cooks cooking food for their coworkers. I ate so much and always looking forward to going to work.
I refuse to give any airline good marks. They are all horrid. I’ve been flying since a big plane had two propellers. I’ve seen the days when every kid on the plane received a pair of wings and a trip to the cockpit. It used to be fun to fly. People felt good about flying. Meals were…..meals. There was service and stewardesses were actually helpful and had smiles. You know smiles. It’s where your mouth turns up at both ends. Now all we get are robotic, beat down humanoids that smirk.. People would actually visit, even play cards while flying. There were real magazines. They were on the plane and you could read them.
You can’t visit now because your actually too close to communicate without spitting on the passenger next to you.
There isn’t enough room for a magazine. At least not one that opens. An open magazine is wider than the seat. I measured with one of the ones I bought for $17.79 at the airport.
Of course there’s no room for legs, shoulders or arms either so I don’t know why I was shocked about the magazine.
Checking your bag was the norm. It wasn’t a problem because most of the time it was returned when you arrived. Also everything you packed was still in the bag. Imagine that. It got so bad that everyone started using cary on. It was the only way you could have anything arrive for sure.
Now they are making it so you can’t even do that. This time next year people will be wearing 5 changes of clothing just so they don’t have to have a bag. You can’t take toiletries anyway so what do we need a bag for.
Sometime mid 2012 all of the bag and luggage mfgrs will need a bailout because people aren’t using bags. Depending on whose president they may get it.
I’ll enjoy flying again when seats are as wide as my a–. Stews smile and bring me real food. Every airline employee acts like they understand that in order to stay afloat, they need to supply something someone wants.
Thanks for the space. It’s more than they give you on any plane.
I’m glad I found this website. I just got of THE WORST experience I’ve ever had with an airline (Delta). There were plane delays which I can’t hold against the airline, but the customer service was absoultely horrendous. Because of a plane delay I had 20 minutes to re-check my bags, get through security, and then sprint to the other side of the terminal. When the people at the Delta desk called the gate to tell them I was on my way they told me “pfft, good luck” getting there. They did not even PRETEND to have any sort of sympathy for me.
When I got to the gate, drenched in sweat, I was not greeted by a crew member with even a hello. She snatched my ticket and gestured to the plane. And I wasn’t even the last one on the flight, either so it wasn’t me holding things up.
My luggage, of course, did not make it on the plane although I was assured it “would be there before I would” which wouldn’t have upset me except for when it was delivered the next day (today) it was DESTROYED. I don’t know what they did to it to it, but it no longer stands upright, and the zippers at the bottom are literally melted shut.
This was upsetting in itself, but again, something that happens in travel. When I called the customer service line however, they told me I had to bring it in within 24 hours “or they would not help me”.
I have a job. The airport is 1.5 hours away. Can I get an extension? No. 24 hours is all I get. I asked to talk to a supervisor. There is no supervisor. Really? no supervisor? At all? You run the whole thing by yourself? No one is in charge?
I do not have any sort of faith that I will get any sort of compensation for my bag. I am positive that they will blame me from overpacking it and somehow magically welding the zippers together.
This doesn’t even cover the minor inconveniences
I paid $1500 to be treated like DIRT. The most frustrating part is I can complain to customer service all I want and it makes NO difference. They will keep treating people like they’re “guests in Delta’s home” rather than people who PAID FOR A SERVICE. Newsflash Delta Agent: If you didn’t have these “guests” you wouldn’t have a home.
Sadly, Delta has very few employees who care. I wish you had taken the airline to small claims court… I think you would have won and given them the worst publicity!! Their conduct is outrageous..but that is what you get when an airline is allowed to emerge from bankruptcy rewarded as the largest airline in the world. As far as I am concerned, you were the victim of bait and switch scamming.