I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years. My current job, as editor of the Cook County News-Herald, is the job I’ve held the longest. I’ve muddled along as an amateur editor for 12 years. And it’s my all-time favorite job, despite the fact that I have people angry with me on a regular basis.
I think I still love this job because for every person who is angry that I wrote something— or didn’t write something—there is someone who expresses appreciation for an article or an editorial. The good outweighs the bad.
That’s the way it’s been with most of the jobs I’ve held through the years, starting with my very first jobs.
Being a baby sitter was fun because I got to play with little kids and act silly. It was not fun because I had to change diapers and clean up after those little kids.
Being a laundry worker had a very low fun quotient. However, my boss during that hot summer job was Vi Wonser, one of the kindest, hardest working women I know. I still count Vi as a dear friend.
Dishwasher was another notso pleasant job, but the people I worked with at the East Bay Hotel and Kerfoot’s Kove made it fun. It was in the kitchen inner sanctum that I experimented with adventurous foods like Reuben sandwiches and baked Alaska.
My first “grown-up” job was as a library aide. A somewhat tedious job as I was responsible for the periodicals. Magazine and newspaper readers can be quite messy. And there is little in life that is more monotonous than shelf reading. However, you get first chance at the newest books and the people who visit the library are rarely cranky.
There were ups and downs in other jobs as I traveled around the country with my soldier husband. I worked in retail—selling housewares, military uniforms and more. I worked as a secretary for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). I worked as a medical records clerk, an X-ray file clerk, and a cardiac rehab receptionist. Back in Cook County, I worked as a cashier at SuperAmerica and as a customer service representative at Arrowhead Electric. All of those jobs had ups and downs, good and bad days.
My favorite job, just behind newspaper editor, was Hallmark distributor. I know, Hallmark sells virtually nothing that anyone needs. No one needs a Christmas card. No one has to get a birthday card. Mothers and fathers can live without Mother’s Day or Father’s Day cards. No one needs a valentine. But isn’t it nice to get them just the same?
I know there are many who argue that all of these holidays are just marketing ploys, intended to get people to spend their hard-earned money on frivolous stuff. Of course it is. Hallmark has thousands of employees, all working hard to get you to buy silly cards and gifts for your loved ones. That was the downside of that job. I bought a lot of fancy stuff that I didn’t really need.
But overall I enjoyed being a Hallmark rep. It was fun seeing the changing seasons in the cards, paper napkins, plates and cups, gift bags and more. I spent a lot of time reading the latest sarcastic Shoebox cards.
I still support my former employer—and other card companies— by picking up greeting cards for friends and relatives for all sorts of holidays. In fact, I need to get to the store soon to buy some valentines. I hope you do the same. Because even though it’s all a major corporate marketing ploy, it still makes the recipient smile!
Get well cards have become so
humorous that if you don’t get
sick you’re missing half the fun.
Flip Wilson
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