My first
job was at 15 working light to dark for the month of August topping
corn. This involved removing the male tassels on four rows
of "cow" rows so the "bull" row would cross
pollinate and you'd get hybrid seed corn in the Melba, Idaho valley. It has to
be done by hand at a pretty good pace, rain or shine, heat or cold. We could do dozens of acres in a day.
My job paid
$4.25 per hour with no overtime, and I was happy as hell for it. I bought by first car
with that money, and when I finally got a job in a restaurant I had a great
work ethic and felt lucky to be working in a place with A/C. To this day I have
fond memories and gratitude for learning how to work hard and get along with
others.
I didn't know it then,
but I was engaging in what today would be criminal activity. The crew
of high school kids rode 10-15 strong in the back of a 1 ton cattle truck (now
illegal) and if we needed to use the bathroom, we either did our business at
the farmer's house, or in the row (also now illegal, the crew has to tow their own porta-potty around.) This story just broke my heart.
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