Mariner was a parole officer for about a year when the Department of Corrections ran an in house ad for a new position. Mariner got the job! (Job 16) The job was as the coordinator to implement new data systems that met new Federal guidelines. The job reported to the Systems Manager who reported to the Secretary for Corrections and Probation.

The popular acronym was CJIS (Criminal Justice Information System). Mariner’s job was to visit every prison, jail, police department and judgeship (who were resistant to baring their trial records) for the purpose of teaching the new data relationships, advise computer technicians and arrange a coordinated relationship with the state project. He had a team of two systems experts, a coordinator and an attorney.

This job lasted four years until a new Republican became Governor and mariner was let go.

Fortunately he had made friends with a few managers at the Federal operation. Slowly, mariner began getting contracts to teach project management to States who requested this service. (Job 17 and 18) This is the moment when mariner became an independent consultant and the job numbers start to climb rapidly.

So readers, do you remember when you felt really happy and fortunate when you were given a break in the work world? What was the name of the person who gave you the break? How did you celebrate your new break?

Ancient Mariner

The meter reader job(8) lasted for several years including the time mariner rolled a company car and developed a BFF who still visits. Reading meters was a lot like delivering newspapers with the added activity of engaging humans. Mariner realized that most labor jobs never have a conclusion. So, with the help of his preacher father, he set out to go to college with financial income as a lay preacher (Job 9).

He hasn’t mentioned it much but mariner was still playing semipro football. He immediately volunteered for the college team, eventually became the starting outside linebacker. Otherwise, preaching was an easy job, But the opportunity came to take a church back in his home state (Job 10).

This job was identical in practice but the income was too frugal for city living. He soon took a job working for an investment firm (Job 11). He knew going in that pencil work was not his ilk.

At the time there was a recession going on. He had difficulty finding work to match his budget. He worked as a bank teller (Job 12) while working at Pinkerton (Job 13) at night. Soon he left to become a probation officer for the city. This job (14) was very much like being a preacher but with no religious ties. Two years later the State took over the job and mariner became a Parole officer (Job 15).

This move set mariner’s jobs in a different direction for the rest of his life.

So how about you, readers. Was there a time when you jumped through jobs like a kangaroo? Can you name two people you worked with in each job? Did you join the military? What was the hardest task for you to endure in your job history?

Ancient Mariner

Well, readers, how many married readers have reached the point where the spouse says, “No, Honey, that was after we married”?

This is a life-switch time for mariner. He knows his lifestyle in art is too slow for depending on artwork. He chose to drop artwork and work for a large utility. At his local gas and electric company, he walked in open for anything. He became a meter reader (job 8).

Meter reading is one of those jobs that are good and bad at the same time. Walking and climbing broken gates was bad; weather was a nuisance. On the other hand, it was learning the body language of dogs and interpreting the tone of their bark or growl that was interesting. Many times a loose dog would come at mariner, protecting his territory. Mariner never had a problem because he would advance toward them rapidly while speaking the appropriate growl. The dog was always neutralized. One situation where this technique did not work was with trained attack dogs but these dogs were restrained by fences. Typically a resident became involved. If you learn dog attack language, never apply it to toddlers. It so scared one of his grandchildren that they went silent instead of squealing.

Being a meter reader provided a first class education on social classes. A reader has an interface with all of them. There were homes with dead dogs; Female residents in a surprising number of homes made sexual advances; many had just one chair in the living room. At the other end were mansions. The residents had servants; dogs weren’t dead.

Nevertheless, readers, in a time of life when you are still young but noticing the shadows, what new experiences did you have that changed your core attitude toward life? What was your worst accident of any kind before age 40? Turn it around. What was a really good experience away from work? What was your boss’s name two jobs ago? Exactly how much did you pay for your first automobile?

Ancient Mariner

By age 17, mariner had a very social life. His mainstay was league football and going to jitterbug dances. He was a serious art major in his high school, which allowed students to select majors very much like colleges do. He chose painting art.

Job 5 was as a water safety life guard at a church camp. These were fun days. It was there that mariner made fresh Blue Crab his favorite meal.

Mariner’s high school class graduated during this period. It was time for him to step into the real world of work.  He joined the local semipro football team and simultaneously was hired by a large department store to be an illustrator in the advertising department, establishing job 6. What he remembers best and most were the lunchtimes spent across the street in a bowling alley with three cronies from the department store. A game called duckpins was played ( a version of bowling called ‘two-ball, nine-no-count’); If the first two balls didn’t score 9 pins, that frame became zero.

Job 7 – Just months later an advertising firm asked mariner to come with them – for a much better salary.

Now, about you folks. New in the adult market place? What new interests entered your life? Did you discover a new, non-family or non-local set of people that you associated with? Did you get married? Where did you go on your first self paid vacation? Name your mayor when you took your first ‘adult’ job. Name the restaurant where you spent lunch.

Ancient Mariner

Mariner’s third job at age 16 was as a soda jerk at a small pharmacy. No one ever, ever said ‘soda clerk’ or ‘fountain clerk’ – probably accurately so. It was a pleasant job. The memories of fixing ice cream and drinks and working an adjacent cigarette/candies window exposed him to dealing mildly with many different personalities and age groups. It helped mariner emerge from a very quiet childhood.

The other thing he remembers about job 3 was that the pharmacy was on a corner on main street. It  had a large pavement area with many cement blocks about 4ftx4ft. It was every boy’s sports arena for what was known then as block ball. The game was played by using the player’s palm to hit a tennis ball aimed at his square, sending to another player’s block – just like pickleball today.

So, fellow workers, what was your earliest job where you provided a service to people you didn’t know? If applicable, did you start to smoke? What was different about your new friends? Did you have a pet? Who was the top-of-chart singer during your service job? Had you had a crush by then?

Mariner’s social life was building in those years. He quit the soda jerk job to work job 4 as a short order cook over the winter.

Ancient Mariner