Chapter 5 - Making a Living

End of Farming

In 1962 we decided that farming didn’t have a future for us. We stopped renting additional land, rented out the Tuttle fields and had an auction company sell our farm equipment. The auction went well. 1961 had been a better than usual farm year, but still not good enough to keep us from going even deeper in debt. The first item to sell was a bush hog that I paid about $450 for. It brought $400 even though the universal joints were worn out. The rest of the equipment brought about what I expected. It was enough to pay off all we owed on the machinery, but it left us owing about $5,000 for fertilizer.

Major equipment sold at auction.

As mentioned before, I took a job teaching math and general science at Henrico High, near Richmond. I had an 8th grade general math class, several classes of general science and a study hall. The 8th grade math was for students that didn’t want to take algebra. In fact they didn’t want to take math. Not only that, general math was hard to teach and harder for the students. They could have learned algebra better. General math was supposed to teach practical uses of math, like interest, sales costs, etc. In other words, mostly word problems. It was no fun for me or the students.

General science classes went well except for a few discipline problems. Years later one of my students recognized me in the grocery store. I didn’t recognize him until he told me his name. He said he learned a lot in my class. I was surprised, because I didn’t feel like I taught much.

Study hall was a head ache. I tried to get some of my work done, but the students only wanted to be noisy and disruptive.

The school was brand new. All the class rooms opened to the outside. I was in the first room in a row. The thermostat for the whole row of rooms was in my room. Each teacher wanted it set differently. Of course, the thermostat had a locked cover over it so we were not supposed to be able to change it. However, I could use a pencil eraser through the small opening to change it. In the winter, I set it to suit the teacher that wanted the warmest setting and told the other teachers to open windows to cool their rooms.

I don’t remember if this was before or after teaching at Henrico High; I worked for a builder as an administrator assistant. Mr. Clark planned and contracted out the building of apartment buildings. He furnished me with a truck that I could drive home. It was my job to see that the contractors did what they were supposed to and some times pick up material for them. Most of the contractors didn’t care much for me. I often found things that had to be done over. Large cracks were left under exterior doors, loose tile on bathroom floors, etc.

Once, Mr. Clark had me count the number of doors needed for a project. He counted them, also. He wanted to cross check so he could be sure he ordered the right number of doors. The building was on a slope with apartments opening to ground level from both floors. The doors for the top level were different than the doors for the bottom level. His count came out exactly twice my count. He had counted all the doors for both levels and then was going to order that many of each kind of door.

One assignment was to deliver some papers to the office of one of his financial backers. I was to deliver the papers the first thing in the morning and slide them under his office door. I also had some supplies on the truck to deliver to a job site. I asked Mr. Clark what time was the first thing in the morning. He just said, “Before you do anything else.” The office was in a large office building in Richmond. I didn’t think it would be unlocked before 7am so I delivered the stuff to the job site and got to the office about 7:15. Too late! I think that is why about a week later, Mr. Clark gave me two weeks pay and had the gardener take me home so he could take the truck back. Mr. Clark would not tell me why, but I could guess.

A previous boo-boo was about repairing one of his trucks. He had told me that a certain back yard mechanic did all his vehicle repairs. While Mr. Clark was out of town, a 2 ton GMC truck broke down. I was left in charge, so I called the back yard mechanic. He said he was not equipped to work on that size truck. I called the GMC dealer and asked if Mr. Clark had an account there. He did, so I had them pick up the truck and repair it. When Mr. Clark returned, he insisted I should have had the back yard mechanic take the truck to the GMC dealer.

Even so, Mr. Clark must have had confidence in me. He was starting a project in Charlottesville. He sent me to Charlottesville to have a sign made and put up on the site. I did that to his satisfaction. He told me he was considering making me superintendent of the job. I didn’t feel qualified. He didn’t make me superintendent of the job.

The summer job didn’t turn out to be permanent, so I applied for another teaching job at the last minutet before school started. Henrico High had all their teachers. I applied to the Richmond school system and was referred to Bainbridge Jr. High in South Richmond. It was in a poor neighborhood and had some rough students. I applied to teach algebra but the principal asked if I could teach mechanical drawing. I replied that I had a 3 hr credit in mechanical drawing. That position paid better because it came under the Industrial Arts Department. I had 6 periods of Mechanical Drawing.

I started the second teacher’s work day. The students came the next day. The department head asked to see my roster and began to tell me which students were trouble makers, etc. I said, “Don’t tell me that. I will learn soon enough.”

The principal informed me that I would have one class of slow learners. They are expected to make “C’s” and “D’s”. I would have one class of bright students. They are expected to make “A’s” and “B’s”. “This is an elective, so don’t fail anyone.” I didn’t fail anyone, but the grades didn’t work out the way he said. The slow learners were interested in drawing and did well. The slow learners made the “A’s” and “B’s”; The bright students were not interested in mechanical drawing; they did the bare necessary drawing and did their other homework during class - they made “C’s” and “D’s”.

The principal came in the room about the middle of one class and sat in the back to observe. I had previously explained a project for the students to work on and was circulating through the room giving individual help where needed. Soon the principal came to the front of the room and told me I was doing it all wrong. I should be at the board “teaching” the class instead of individuals.

I didn’t remember the order of these jobs. One was with Spotless Hardware. I was hired through an employment agent that charged a fee. My title was assistant warehouse manager. Actually, there was no warehouse manager. I was it. My supervisor was the toy puncher, the owner’s son. I very seldom saw him or the owner. The warehouse was a mess from not being managed. Broken items blocked the isles, orders were not being filled properly, etc. I soon had things running smoothly.

There were about 20 stores, mostly in the Richmond area. There was one out of town route. The out of town driver always came in a couple of hours after closing time and collected overtime. I suggested he not load his own truck, but let him come in late so he could make his run in eight hours. I should have checked with my supervisor first. The driver had a fit. He said he would have me fired for this. Maybe he did.

Another time, one of the drivers was out sick and the relief driver didn’t come in, either. I made the run myself. Again, I should have checked with my supervisor first. It worked out OK, though.

The stores all complained about not getting all the merchandise they ordered. The higher ups didn’t seem to be concerned. The merchandise was listed as on the truck, but the store claimed they didn’t get it. I went out with one of the drivers and personally check the merchandise as it was unloaded. It was all there. The store manager didn’t check it as it was unloaded. He just had it piled in the back room for him to check later. I am pretty sure I know what caused the problem. A customer would ask for an item that was not on the shelf - the clerk would say, “A load just came in. I will check to see if it was on that load.” If it was, the clerk would take the item to the customer before it was checked in. The complaints still came in.

A few weeks before Christmas, I was given my walking papers. The explanation was, “We have to cut back so we can show a good profit by the end of the year. They were hiring extra store help for the holidays but they wouldn’t let me work in a store. So be it.

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