Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Coworkers: Part 01 - Help Wanted


     "Did you see this ad?" Zelda pitched the newspaper in my lap.
     Circled in red, Classical Manager Position, apply in person, Camp Bowie.
     "That's interesting," I commented. "I wonder what happened to Mike?"
     "That's the store you shop at. You could do that job."
     "I'm hardly a classical expert," I answered.
     "You listen to classical. Your last job was with the symphony."
     "As a phoner. Before I got fired," I grinned.
     "Just visit," 
Zelda said.  "You never know. You've certainly spent enough money there over the years."

     "What's going on with Mike?" I stood outside the Manager's Box, spoke with The Boss.
     "I honestly don't know. He's been gone a month now. Hasn't contacted anyone. Not a word."
     "Yeah, I haven't seen his byline in the paper recently. What about the other Mike? Over at Berry."
     "He'll never come back. He's their assistant. I placed an ad in the classifieds."
     "I saw that," I paused. "I was thinking about applying.
     "Really," he replied. He seemed distracted. "Say, do you know who wrote the 1812 Overture?"
     "What?" I made a face. "Tchaikovsky."
     "Ha ha. How about ... oh ... forget it. Look. I already hired someone. But with classical, you never know ... "
     "I know the music, but I'm not an expert," I confessed.
     "That's not what I meant. Classical types are ... ha ha ... never mind." He stopped. "Would you consider part time?"
     Part time was better than no time. If John's and my business picked up ... well, I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.
     "That'll work. I have another job rebuilding player pianos. But business has been dead over a year now."
     "I need someone Tuesday and Thursday, midshift, 2:00 in the afternoon until 6:00. And Friday, 6:00 until close."
     There was the offer. I weighed it for fifteen seconds.
     "I can do that," I accepted. "Do you need an application, or something?"
     "Fill one out Tuesday. Dress casual. Not over dressed, not shabby."
     "Two o'clock. Tuesday. See you then."
     The Boss stood up, extended his hand, "Welcome aboard."


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2 comments:

  1. I crashed my old Datsun on the old I30 bridge next to the old post office due to a guy hauling firewood. Not good - almost killed me and about a dozen other people. After recovery, I contacted the BOSS. He was sympathetic but said, dude, no car, can't get to work...no classical job. Good luck. Charles was the greatest cat to work for. He has a very sarcastic sense of humor and always made fun of all the crappy bands I was joining and lasted about 5 minutes. Anyway, I said no problem (no choice, but I had went AWOL on the BOSS anyway). I then went on the road with a rock cover band and also jammed with Monty McClinton. Got the gig because I lived next door to his dad on Western Ave, Delbert McClinton. After a year on the road and back in school, I picked up a Dallas Observer issue that had an article about Todd and the Toadies breakout debut CD. I was so happy for Todd and Lisa. Lisa once came over to the pad years before and I showed her some guitar licks. Little did I know that The Toadies were going to blow up like they have. I remember Todd always rockin' to Jane's Addiction and we always talked about the British punk groups. Still run into the old gang, (thanks to the internet), that has survived the years. Its nice to see who still is in the music and arts life. Peace and love...

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