28 Mile Daily Commute By Bike To Save For My First Car
I Loved my 10-Speed...Issue #20
ifOnlyi… had respected how much effort both of my parents put into their business to make it the very best it could be. They built and retained relationships over the many years to provide a wonderful life for me, Ollie, to enjoy. By The Way, those years of private school training of ‘Yes Mam & Yes Sir’, opening the car door for ladies and pulling out their chairs were part of my lifestyle. It felt totally normal back then!
It sounds totally nuts, but when school ended, I biked 14 miles each way on my 10-speed to work for the family business. Yes, I did, five days a week, and I think I was paid $1.50 an hour.
I wasn’t old enough to drive yet and was doing everything I could to save enough money to buy a car. I could only work for about 3 hours a day, and that was hard going for a few bucks.
It was warehouse work, mostly loading and unloading containers. I would also pull and pack orders at times. I was learning the business from the ground up. Yes, I cleaned the toilets, too, so it really was from the bottom up. Ha Ha!
Walking through the offices every day, hearing the employees say, “Hello, how are you?” made me feel special. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to work.
It made me feel worthwhile. When Dad was in the country, it was awesome to walk into his office, right past his secretary, as if I were someone important, and watch Dad at work.
I knew that when it came close to 5 pm Dad would open up his small custom bar and pour a Scotch on the rocks for himself and you could hear my Mom in the other office next door asking “Can you pour me one too?“
There was something special about seeing the dynamics of owning your own business and the benefits that come along with it.
When I was at Howard School, I would take some of the products and give them to students, hoping to become likable; perhaps that is known as ‘buying your friends’. I realized later that I had done much of that throughout my lifetime.
My bike light wasn’t working at times, so yes, I would hit pits and holes on the roads coming back home in the dark. ‘Did I crash my 10-speed a few times?’ YES, I did more than a few.
Working in the warehouse was just one of many work chores I had to do at the age of 15. I certainly was getting fit, which was great for my tennis game and stamina. But was it worth it in the end?
ifOnlyi…. short stories are published chronologically, and follow my life growing up in California from 4 years old. If you’ve just found me, the stories will come together when you start reading from….Issue #1
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