A Little Change In Your Pocket

My dad used to tell me that it’s always nice to have a little change in your pocket.

I never forgot what he said. Having a little change in your pocket is very nice, especially when you earn it yourself. So as a young boy I set out to do just that. In those days I had a lot of ways to make money. It didn’t matter how much I made, it was pride that motivated me. If I made a quarter or a dime I put a little in my pocket and the rest in my Schmoo bank.

My first job was mowing the neighbor’s lawn with my sister, Barbara. We did it with a push reel mower. No motor. The grass was long and the mower was dull. It was a hot and humid day and it took both of us to push the mower. My mother watched us to be sure we were getting the job done, which we did. I don’t remember how much money we made, but I do know that we were proud of what we accomplished.

In the winter I shoveled snow off our sidewalks. I also had several regular jobs with neighbors. I got paid for the neighbors’ jobs, but not for our own where I also shoveled the driveway. My dad usually helped on the driveway.

When I was ten I sold the Sunday morning Des Moines Register on the street corner in downtown Cedar Falls. After that I got my own paper route with the Cedar Falls Record which I did for a year. I made four dollars a week, most of which I saved. But I always kept a little in my pocket to buy a malted milk or a Clark Bar candy bar at the Caramel Corn shop.

When I was in junior high school I worked as a dishwasher for two weeks in the Campbell Hall cafeteria on the university campus. That was my first hourly job. For two weeks of hard work I made about thirty dollars. That was big money!

During my high school years I spent the summers detasseling corn and bailing hay. I enjoyed being outdoors and I loved the farm atmosphere. The food was good also. I also worked in a supermarket, a warehouse, a factory, and doing road construction.

When I was in college I usually was able to find a summer job, unless I was taking summer classes. I was able to get a job working buildings and grounds on the university campus. I also worked for the International Harvester truck division in Waterloo. The pay was real good, but I really didn’t like it very much. I was hoping to get some training and learn about the business, but it never really happened. I didn’t know what to do and they really didn’t know what to do with me.

In 1963 I applied for a summer job in the National Park Service and landed one at Lassen National Park in California. That was the best job I had in all that time, and it changed my life. I won’t go into detail right now on my experience at Lassen. I’ll leave that for another chapter in my blog.

I took a course in finance and investing during my senior year of college and it changed my way of looking at money. While I was still living at home with my parents, I started talking about money with my dad who had been a long-time investor. I graduated from college with a major in business. I had taken courses in accounting, management, advertising, marketing, and even a class in typing. But not one of them taught me as much as what I learned from my dad and a little bit of change in my pocket.