Place: Bronx, New York
Workflow: #palindromedlb
This was the subway station that is near the end of the line in the Bronx and was where I emerged at the end of the daily trek into the city. From here, I walk along Jerome Avenue then make a right onto Gunhill Road and walk down to a small street called Putnam Place which is about one block long and directly across from Woodlawn Cemetery.
Jerome Avenue was where I had all my first jobs. Citron's Hardware store where I learned to stack lightbulbs. Mr. Singer's jewelry store where I learned to gift wrap tiny little packages.
My early jobs were all held when high-school let out at 3 p.m. and were boring except for the fact that I made my own money for the first time.
And then I worked two full days on the weekend. I was 15 and 16.
The only pleasure that I had, was being able to go to the blue-collar luncheonette on the corner of Gunhill and Jerome and order a cheeseburger deluxe at the counter with workmen.
These were the beginning of a life of boring jobs. If I had thought that school was boring – well these were mind-numbing. I suppose that I must've done somebody wrong at some point to be saddled with these jobs – but what it was – I guess I'll never know.
I once sat down and enumerated the jobs I've held so far – and it amounted to something like 30 separate jobs. And I'm not counting one day jobs, or all the temp jobs I had at one period when I worked as a typist and later as a word processor.
I really didn't find a job that I enjoyed until I found my way to the ad agency that I've mentioned a few times and by then – maybe I was 40 years old? And the reason that I liked it was because of my boss who was another Bronx guy – though ten years older than me. We simply hit it off and could get things done and at that time – being a computer engineer / programmer – you had leverage. You had freedom. You knew that with the skills you had, and the way the economy was – that you could always get another job when the corporate politics got to be too much.
Well – that's the backstory and I'll give this a #photostorydlb tag so I can find it again when I tell the story of my life. (Like I'll ever get around to it.)
Oh – and look at the picture carefully. It's filled with secrets that don't make much sense.
Mosholu Parkway, Bronx
Palindrome – www.BeckermanPhoto.com
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