In my first job, I was a garbage man, or more appropriately a Garbage-Boy. My job was to take out the garbage. A task assigned to me because none of my brothers and sisters wanted to do it. But I enjoyed being a Garbage-Boy, because it made me feel needed and gave me a sense of purpose.

 

My older brothers were also kind enough to let me take over the job of mowing the lawn. So naturally I became a Lawnmower-Boy. A job I dearly loved.

 

It was at this time that I got my first taste of helping people. I joined the Cub Scouts and had the opportunity to help a few old ladies cross the street. So, I think it's safe to say, I was also a Cub-Scout-Boy.

 

In my next job, I was a Shoeshine-Boy. My father was in the restaurant business and had a magazine shop with a shoeshine stand adjacent to his restaurant. I loved shining shoes and was darned good at it.

 

When I was out of school in the summer, my dad got me a job working with my Civil Engineer Grandfather (Val E Smith) cutting trail in The Atchafalaya Swamp which was very hot, sweaty hard work, with millions of mosquitoes, but what the heck! I was a Trail-Cutter-Boy, and believe it or not, I did love cutting trail.

 

I moved on to becoming a Peanut-Salesman-Boy at the local college football games. But I must admit I was not crazy about being a Peanut-Salesman-Boy because I never really got to watch the games.

 

I'm sure you are fascinated with My Résumé, but would you please allow me to interject an incident (concerning a drunk man) that happened to me while selling peanuts?

 

The small football stadium had steep cement stairs and wooden bleachers. A lot of the spectators were heavy drinkers, and I had the misfortune to have a very uncomfortable interaction with one of them (who was a very big drunk man with a very big loudmouth). In order to sell the peanuts, I would have to walk up and down the steep stairs hollering "Peanuts!" "Peanuts!" "Peanuts!". When I got on his level, he stood up and shouted at me (with his very big loudmouth) "Goobers!" "Goobers!" "Goobers!". Well, he was Big, and he was Mean, and he was Drunk, and I, of course, had no idea what the word "Goobers" meant. I was sure he was hollering some sort of cussword at me. And being the Coward that I am, I was scared of him. So, I quickly turned around and went up another set of stairs to sell my peanuts. Of-course I later learned that the word "Goobers" meant "Peanuts". But what the heck! We can't know everything.

 

Well enough of that sad story. Please allow me to get back to My Résumé.

 

When the weather got much colder, I was doing such a great job of selling peanuts that I was promoted to the position of selling hot chocolate. I loved being a Hot-Chocolate-Salesman-Boy until I got fired for spilling a tray of hot chocolate on several, very unfriendly, home team fans. Suddenly! I was an Unemployed-Hot-Chocolate-Salesman-Boy with a small chance of ever getting my job back.

 

After a couple of weeks of being unemployed, the gentleman my father hired to wash dishes and mop floors got tired of washing dishes and mopping floors and walked off the job. (Lucky for me!) that was the day my dual career as a Dish-Washer-Boy and Floor-Mopper-Boy in my father’s restaurant began. I will always be thankful to that gentleman for walking off the job. And most of all to my Dad for providing me with the unique opportunity to wash dishes and mop floors. My dear sweet Dad told me the job of being a Dish-Washer-Boy and Floor-Mopper-Boy would teach me humility and cleanliness and if I put my heart into it this would be a valuable lesson, which would build character and a positive attitude.

 

And my good ole' Dad added, in his humble opinion Attitude Is Everything!