The first job I got payed for was during the summer of 1965.My older brother (Victor) was the Produce guy at Florian's Supermarket on West Hardy.He got me a job there sacking groceries and stocking inventory.I was 14 years old at the time and he told the manager that I was 16 years old to get me the job.The pay was very low but by showing good manners to the adults that you carried groceries out for,you could make out on some good tips.The next paying job I got was with Bobby Hopper,Steve Davis and a bunch of other Sam Houston people.It was at a plumbing rope manufacturer over by Delmar Stadium.The manager(Red) over there liked Bobby and I and let us run the night shift for him,much to his mistake.The day shift would manufacture a ton of rope during the day and leave it by there machines for the night shift to record and to put it up,we would record very little of the day shift's rope and leave it by our night shift machines and record it for the night shift.At first everyone thought the night shift was really kicking some butt.You'll have to get Bobby to tell you more about this job,it was some of the best fun we ever had.

Well Rick your making me stretch my little brain cells a bit now but i do remember not wanting to make the damn rope. So I decided that since the others put out more rope than me they must like doing it more than me so I just took up the Obama play of today and decided it would be to my benefit to share the wealth. So I just started taking a little bit of rope from each guy on the night shift. They didn't seem to notice so you started to help out our little economy by taking some for yourself. After a few weeks the night shift started bitching but we had got in tight with the old man who was running the show since we found him one-day passed out drunk hiding among some boxex in the back. I remember he was shocked to have us find him, but we assurred him it would be, JUST OUR LITTLE SECRET. From then on either you or me had to merely drive ole Red to the nearest licquor store and keep him abreast on who was, and wasn't pulling their weight. The ole fart really liked us and never figured out it was only we two that wasn't doing a damn thing but sitting our asses, in the one air-conditioned room in the building pretendind to be overseeing the help and doing paper work. I can still remember watching the others sweating like hell out there in the shop through the small window. When I would catch Dean or whoever just standing around resting and trying to cool off I would tap on the window with a stick and motioned them to get back to it. You was ole Reds driver to the booze store most of the time. Sometimes you even pissed me off because ya'll would be gone for hours. I remember asking you once where in the hell you had taking the old guy for so long and you told me, "You had talked him into going to a movie" Anyway it was a shitty job for the rest of the boys but me and you made out like bandits. It didn't take too much of Reds management for the main office in some other state to send in a real boss. I don't remember how long you stayed after that but I just sang Happy Trails as I booked from that place. I did feel bad for the guys who had families to feed. But i got over it quick