I have found that in being self-employed I have both the best boss and the worst boss in the world.
I've have had all kinds of bosses in my life: some good, some bad. My first job was working for the Dairy Rama (a tiny drive-in burger joint) in Lamont, Oklahoma, when I was in the 7th grade. I cleaned all the trash out of the parking lot every day in exchange for twenty five cents in cold hard cash. Most of the time I took that quarter and promptly gave it back to Mr. McBride in exchange for a chocolate shake or a coke and candy bar. You could buy a lot of stuff at the Dairy Rama for a quarter when I was in junior high.
Then came the paper route. Yes, I was a paperboy. I threw the Enid Morning News and The Daily Oklahoman. I learned to drive when I was 13 because the Sunday Oklahoman was a HUGE newspaper that I couldn't carry on a bike. So, my Dad got up at 4:30 a.m. with me and we rolled the papers and drove the route. He started teaching me to drive on those early morning routes. I was driving it myself in no time.
There have been bosses who were not nice, but most of my employers have been pretty good folks. I've worked for people who thought that anyone who had to work for a living was beneath them. I've worked for some very angry people who tried to get me to treat poor people badly. But, by and large, the mean bosses have been the exception and not the rule.
I've always gotten along very well with women bosses. T L Walker at the Marland Estate in Ponca City and Kay Stanley at Central Methodist Church in Albuquerque are two examples. They were both great bosses. They both cried when I left, because we had become such good friends. I officiated at T L's wedding (the most unusual wedding I've ever officiated - I'll have to write about it sometime), and TJ and I spent every Thanksgiving while we lived in New Mexico at Kay's house.
Mr. Unruh gave me my first real job earning wages. When I was 15 I worked for Unruh Hardware in Ringwood, Oklahoma. I worked hard. I was a plumber's and electrician's helper. I came home every night tired and filthy. But, Mr. Unruh paid me $5 and hour. $5 an hour! This was for a 15 year old boy at a time when minimum wage was probably about $1.65 an hour.
Danny Ewbank was fun to work for. I worked as a Water Well technician in Fairview, Oklahoma, right after I got married. I made tons of money and have no idea whatsoever where it all went. I got to fly to Chicago, then bus on into Wisconsin, where I went to school to learn about submersible water systems. When the oilfield collapsed, so did my job.
Steve Huston, who died this past year, asked me to come to work for Trout Funeral Home in Ponca City. Why he sought me out, I'll never know. But he saw something in me that appealled to him. I stayed there for six years. I think that working at Trout was the best job I've ever had outside of preaching the Gospel.
Steve was a hard-nosed ex-Navy spook who barked orders like a drill sergeant. But he always treated me right. He also had a soft spot for what he called "the working poor." He would finance, without interest, a funeral for a poor working family, who would pay him $25 a month. When my Dad died, Steve charged my mother only his costs for the funeral. He liked to do generous things for people and then growl something like, "But don't tell anyone I did this or they'll think I'm some kind of softy."
Mike Phenix was another boss I really enjoyed working for. Mike bought the funeral home from Steve Huston, but we had worked together as co-workers before he became my boss. Mike had a great sense of humor, and a great "money" sense. One time Mike and I took a graveside funeral service to Kansas City. I was the preacher, he was the funeral director (this is before he became my boss). I received the largest honorarium I've ever gotten - $400 - for one of the shortest services I've ever performed (the family requested that I just say a few very brief words). After the service, Mike took me to a casino (I'd never been to a casino in my life). He bought me a steak for lunch, then I watched as he played craps. I still cannot understand the game of craps. But I watched in amazement as Mike won $600 in twenty minutes. The other players just stared at us. Two dudes in black suits cleaning up at the crap table. I thought I was watching James Bond. On the way back home I said, "Mike, let me get this straight. Steve Huston paid us wages to take that funeral to Kansas City. And on top of that we are bringing home a cool grand between us. Have I got that right?" Ah, the good ol' days!
I've have had all kinds of bosses in my life: some good, some bad. My first job was working for the Dairy Rama (a tiny drive-in burger joint) in Lamont, Oklahoma, when I was in the 7th grade. I cleaned all the trash out of the parking lot every day in exchange for twenty five cents in cold hard cash. Most of the time I took that quarter and promptly gave it back to Mr. McBride in exchange for a chocolate shake or a coke and candy bar. You could buy a lot of stuff at the Dairy Rama for a quarter when I was in junior high.
Then came the paper route. Yes, I was a paperboy. I threw the Enid Morning News and The Daily Oklahoman. I learned to drive when I was 13 because the Sunday Oklahoman was a HUGE newspaper that I couldn't carry on a bike. So, my Dad got up at 4:30 a.m. with me and we rolled the papers and drove the route. He started teaching me to drive on those early morning routes. I was driving it myself in no time.
There have been bosses who were not nice, but most of my employers have been pretty good folks. I've worked for people who thought that anyone who had to work for a living was beneath them. I've worked for some very angry people who tried to get me to treat poor people badly. But, by and large, the mean bosses have been the exception and not the rule.
I've always gotten along very well with women bosses. T L Walker at the Marland Estate in Ponca City and Kay Stanley at Central Methodist Church in Albuquerque are two examples. They were both great bosses. They both cried when I left, because we had become such good friends. I officiated at T L's wedding (the most unusual wedding I've ever officiated - I'll have to write about it sometime), and TJ and I spent every Thanksgiving while we lived in New Mexico at Kay's house.
Mr. Unruh gave me my first real job earning wages. When I was 15 I worked for Unruh Hardware in Ringwood, Oklahoma. I worked hard. I was a plumber's and electrician's helper. I came home every night tired and filthy. But, Mr. Unruh paid me $5 and hour. $5 an hour! This was for a 15 year old boy at a time when minimum wage was probably about $1.65 an hour.
Danny Ewbank was fun to work for. I worked as a Water Well technician in Fairview, Oklahoma, right after I got married. I made tons of money and have no idea whatsoever where it all went. I got to fly to Chicago, then bus on into Wisconsin, where I went to school to learn about submersible water systems. When the oilfield collapsed, so did my job.
Steve Huston, who died this past year, asked me to come to work for Trout Funeral Home in Ponca City. Why he sought me out, I'll never know. But he saw something in me that appealled to him. I stayed there for six years. I think that working at Trout was the best job I've ever had outside of preaching the Gospel.
Steve was a hard-nosed ex-Navy spook who barked orders like a drill sergeant. But he always treated me right. He also had a soft spot for what he called "the working poor." He would finance, without interest, a funeral for a poor working family, who would pay him $25 a month. When my Dad died, Steve charged my mother only his costs for the funeral. He liked to do generous things for people and then growl something like, "But don't tell anyone I did this or they'll think I'm some kind of softy."
Mike Phenix was another boss I really enjoyed working for. Mike bought the funeral home from Steve Huston, but we had worked together as co-workers before he became my boss. Mike had a great sense of humor, and a great "money" sense. One time Mike and I took a graveside funeral service to Kansas City. I was the preacher, he was the funeral director (this is before he became my boss). I received the largest honorarium I've ever gotten - $400 - for one of the shortest services I've ever performed (the family requested that I just say a few very brief words). After the service, Mike took me to a casino (I'd never been to a casino in my life). He bought me a steak for lunch, then I watched as he played craps. I still cannot understand the game of craps. But I watched in amazement as Mike won $600 in twenty minutes. The other players just stared at us. Two dudes in black suits cleaning up at the crap table. I thought I was watching James Bond. On the way back home I said, "Mike, let me get this straight. Steve Huston paid us wages to take that funeral to Kansas City. And on top of that we are bringing home a cool grand between us. Have I got that right?" Ah, the good ol' days!
1 comment:
Hi Maryle!!
I've sent you an email.
Good to hear from you, my friend.
Peace,
Mike
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