My first paycheck in 1965, was for 75 cents per hour, checking clothes and checking toes at a suburban, Municipal swimming pool. Aspired to be a Lifeguard, completed the required Red Cross Course but as I was not yet 16, was awarded a “Junior Lifesaving Badge”, so no Lifeguard Job. My first experience with meeting requirements but still, disqualified.
Later and wiser, I lied about my age and enrolled in a YMCA Scuba Certification Course, when it was still Tarzan requirements. Swim a mile, tread water with just arms for 20 minutes, then just legs for 20 minutes. Watched returning Vietnam Vets who could afford the gear, struggle. Took my open water qual in a Northeast Ohio quarry in February, in an ill fitting, borrowed wet suit (no money) and thought I’d never be warm, again.
Made E-7 money as an E-5 Submariner with Pro Pay and Boat Pay and FSA. And except for a year at the College of Charleston (GI Bill and VA part time job) after nine years of Canoe Club, worked. Until spring of 2010 – Lenovo, who’d purchased the IBM PC Company, my employer, made my further career, null.
From 2010, except for getting a Wake County “Certified Pool Operator” Certificate and managing our HOA’s Swimming Pool, I had an encore career as a Portrait and Dance Photographer. COVID and becoming a widower ended that, in the Fall of 2022,
So from 1968 to 2022, some 54 years, I paid my dues. Now, I’m just going to be at peace.
Brooke's Blog 