Only $999,880. More To Go

Jan 13, 2018, 2:16 PM

Three years in the work force and I lack $999,880. on my way to becoming a millionaire. But I am hampered by the fact my job opportunities are seasonal. If I could move up to a supervisory position maybe I could make a little bit more money and reach my goal before I turn 97. But who, pray tell, is going to hire a 15 year old boy in a supervisory position at a fabulous salary?

Well, it was approaching corn harvesting time so I wandered down to the packing platform to see the powers that be, last year's boss. The depression was still very deep but there were signs that there was a slight improvement. Some labor jobs were seeing a slight increase, maybe just enough to pay cash for a penny post card at the post office rather than having to buy it on the lay-away plan.

One of my friends suggested I do a little negotiating when I went job seeking. I didn't know anything about negotiating and asked him what it meant in plain English. He said it was the same thing as haggling but you don't get in a shouting match. Now I knew what he was talking about. I met with the powers that be and they were praising me for my work the previous year and hoped I would work for them this year. I told them I would but first we had to haggle. Their first offer was $0.50 per 100 crates assembled plus labeling. I liked haggling so I told them I thought the job was worth more than that. A little bird sitting on my shoulder kept telling me, "don't over haggle or you will not have a job". An offer came back, we will pay you $0.70 per 100 crates assembled. I didn't want to show how eager I was to accept heir offer so slowly said, "OK". Little did they know would have gladly accepted an offer at $0.60. That one million dollar goal was now coming plainly into view.

My Dad was the station agent and telegrapher for the Seaboard lr Line RR so I went into his office to figure out how much I could make in a day, a week and during the season. WOW !!!!! Those numbers were mind boggling !!! Bjt then I had to figure in the possibility the season could be shorter, there may be severl rainy days and we might not load two cars every day. So, I figured my take would be at least $75.00.

A day or two before the season started, one of my friends, who was a year younger and had worked in the watermelon business, came to me and asked if he could get a job there. My Dad had told me his family was having a rough time and old cold hearted Joe asked if he would like to work with me. His eyes lit up the sky, brighter than the sun, and said "yes" without knowing what the job was or how much he would be paid. I told him I would pay him $0.50 for assembling 100 crates and he would have to do the labeling. I would assemnble 400 crates per day and anything over 400 would be his allotment.

I was now in a supervisory capacity, something that would give me a boost down the road when someone looked at my resume. But in the process, I was sacrificing money to assume this prestigeous position. The only records I had to keep was how many crates my assistant assembled. No documentation, no child labor law restrictions. no tax records, no OSHA regulations to comply with and no red tape.

Instead of the $6.30 per day I was expecting, my daily take was about $3.80 to $4.00 per day. At the end of the season I had about $75.00, still a long way from my goal but seeing how happy and proud that young boy was to have a few dollars made me feel like a millionaire, a feeling that money can never buy.

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Only $999,880. More To Go

That's about the age I started getting rich off pimping...

Was it easy?

Re: Only $999,880. More To Go

Re: Only $999,880. More To Go!

I always enjoy your stories, Joe.

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