Surviving My First Job….

You should never trust a guy named ‘’Pimp.’ I was in my last year of High School and I had known Pimp Thompson for the five years I attended Oshawa Secondary.

My family had their own thriving business and I loved working closely with my Dad during the summer months. We were in the cattle biz and we exported dairy cattle to the United States. We also milked over one hundred and twenty head, so it was a big operation.

On the last week in High School, Pimp came over to my locker, and he gave me a whack in the shoulder to get my attention. ‘’Eisen, I got us the sweetest gig you could ever imagine. You know my Dad works for the City and he’s in charge of upgrade projects. So that means things like sidewalks. Anyways, he talked to Tony Marcoe who owns ‘’Marcoe Construction and Paving.’’ My Dad was one of the decision-makers who awards contracts for construction. When he got the contract Marcoe told my old man he’d hire me for the summer to work on sidewalks. I just have to stand around and watch cement dry. I’m getting fourteen bucks an hour, not a bad gig.’’ I told him that was great and I hoped he’d enjoy himself, even though it sounded very boring.

‘’Eisen man, that’s why I got my Dad to get you a job also. We’ll work together man. We will crack jokes all summer, make big bucks, and have a good time. We’ll be setting ourselves up to have a lot of cash for University.’’ I tried to explain that I was going to be working with my Dad all summer, but he wouldn’t have it. ‘’Come on, talk to your Father, being in construction will let you try something new. Your farms aren’t going anywhere and it will be a good change. You do that farm shit every year.’’

That night at the dinner table I told my Mom and Dad about the opportunity to build sidewalks. My Dad didn’t say much, and when I told him about the hourly rate, my Father simply said ‘’Sorry son, I can’t match that money. If you want to work construction this summer, I understand. I’ll miss you, but I don’t ever want you to say, could’ve, would’ve, should’ve.’’

The next day at school I told Pimp I would accept the construction job. He was genuinely happy. ‘’Fuckin’ A, you and I, the Kings of the Sidewalk.’’ He told me that there were some things I needed to buy, like steel-toed construction boots.