January 1957

My job hunting was short-lived. My friendly employment agent had no problem placing me. My first interview was a success.

Blake Moffitt and Towne Paper Company on 9th and Brannon hired me. The company was a major leader in the paper industry, and its massive building was a familiar landmark visible from the freeway.

With little experience behind me and no recommendations from Dettner or Spiegel’s, once again, I got lucky. The department head interviewing me went to Saint Ignatius High School, where I had made the honor roll in 1955. He graduated from USF, where Dad had written the fight song, “On to Victory” as a freshman in 1927. It was the cultural ties that closed the deal.

I, at sixteen, became the cute mail boy surrounded by secretaries of all sizes and shapes, who flirted and joked with me. One brazenly commented, “Wish you were a few years older.” So did I. But, age didn’t matter in my sexual fantasies.

My boss, and only co-worker in the mail department, Barbara, was in her late fifties. She was a Sophie Tucker type, warm and bubbling with a wise sparkle in her eye. We got along fine. We both loved old movies, history and songs from the 1940s.

Every payday, she bought me a fifth of bourbon, which I carefully packaged, addressed and stamped to avoid any problems with nosey cops or my thirsty mom.

I was astonished to find out I’d been hired at twenty-five dollars more a month than Barbara, who had ten years with the company. She just accepted it. I thought it was outrageous and unfair. That was my first experience with workplace sex discrimination.

Payday also brought Dad, whose life had been saved by a new wonder drug discovered in Texas, to collect all but twenty dollars from my pay. He treated us both to a lunch of greasy meatloaf and lumpy mashed potatoes at the cheap diner down the street.

As summer waned and school grew closer, I began to lobby for a back-to-school clothing allowance. I never got it.

My biggest worry as a new kid at Drake High was getting through gym without anyone noticing I had no underpants.