Would you change jobs to make a dollar a week more? [View All]

[TruthIsAll]

The seminal year in my life was 1965. Viet Nam was just starting to heat up. I graduated college in February. Shortly afterwards, I had an interview with an large defense company just five minutes from my home. I didn't get the job. I was very dissapointed and resigned to being drafted.

A few weeks later, I had another interview for an Actuarial Trainee position with a large insurance company. This time I got the job. One hundred twenty five bucks a week. In the big city, too. I was excited. Free lunches and lots of girls.

The first day on the job, I came home from work and there it was: a belated job offer of Manufacturing Engineer from that defense firm. One hundred twenty six bucks a week. Almost uncanny, like they knew that they had to beat my salary, even if it was just by one buck.

But my pride said no, I won't take it. They turned me down once - so fuck 'em; I'll stay at the insurance firm. Besides, I liked the girls. Of course, my parents wanted me to take the job at the defense firm so that I might get a draft deferment building airplanes. Their better judgment prevailed and I decided to take the job. Any kid would have done the same. I was very lucky.

I resigned from the insurance company two weeks later and went to work in aircraft and aerospace manufacturing. It turned out to be the best job of my career. My co-workers were the salt of the earth, the nicest bunch of guys I ever had the pleasure of working with. They were mostly technical school graduates from suburbia.

I was a Cold War "Hawk" in 1965. I believed everything the government said was true: we were fighting the Communists in Southeast Asia to prevent them from taking over the world.

In 1968, MLK and RFK were assassinated. Each by a "Lone-crazed" gunman. Just like JFK. Right.

I left the world of the MIE in 1969. It took me a few more years before I lost my naivete. About the war. About JFK. About America.

I could not imagine, during that awful time, that things could get much worse. But they did. And here we are.