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Re: Can someone over 50 tell me what this is
Author: Ted Benson
Date: 10-17-2015 - 00:19
Great discussion on the PBX-switchboard-cordboard thread.
My first "real" job (at age 14) was switchboard operator and cashier for the parts and service department at Griswold & Wight Ford in Modesto, California, where my father was the business manager. Dad figured if I was old enough for a work permit, I should go to work, so every Saturday the two of us rolled downtown (in a Ford, of course), and spent the day together--albeit on opposite sides of the building. My dad was a classic workaholic--six days a week, every week--and the Saturday job allowed us to spend a little more time together. At the same time, I learned a number of valuable skills when it came to communication skills, dealing with the public, and dealing with real-life responsibilities. If my cash drawer didn't balance at the end of the day, we didn't go home until it did. If I messed up making change (it happened once), the money came out of my pocket. At the same time, running the switchboard was a blast, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Along with getting paid (albeit minimum wage), I had one outstanding perk--the switchboard offered a front row seat on Modesto's Ninth Street, with an unobstructed view of the SP mainline half a block to the west, one block north of the depot. If anything passed on the SP (and sometimes the TS) during business hours, I had a ringside seat for the action. The second Saturday I worked, my notebook went to work with me, and going back over those entries provides a wonderful stroll down memory lane. Occasionally I packed my Kodak Super 27 camera to work, and before long, I was timing my afternoon coffee break to correspond with the arrival of SP's westbound San Joaquin Daylight #51. Not many of those negatives remain, but the few that do are a tangible reminder of the passing glory at 9th and L Streets in Modesto.
All kids should be so blessed!
Ted Benson
My first "real" job (at age 14) was switchboard operator and cashier for the parts and service department at Griswold & Wight Ford in Modesto, California, where my father was the business manager. Dad figured if I was old enough for a work permit, I should go to work, so every Saturday the two of us rolled downtown (in a Ford, of course), and spent the day together--albeit on opposite sides of the building. My dad was a classic workaholic--six days a week, every week--and the Saturday job allowed us to spend a little more time together. At the same time, I learned a number of valuable skills when it came to communication skills, dealing with the public, and dealing with real-life responsibilities. If my cash drawer didn't balance at the end of the day, we didn't go home until it did. If I messed up making change (it happened once), the money came out of my pocket. At the same time, running the switchboard was a blast, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Along with getting paid (albeit minimum wage), I had one outstanding perk--the switchboard offered a front row seat on Modesto's Ninth Street, with an unobstructed view of the SP mainline half a block to the west, one block north of the depot. If anything passed on the SP (and sometimes the TS) during business hours, I had a ringside seat for the action. The second Saturday I worked, my notebook went to work with me, and going back over those entries provides a wonderful stroll down memory lane. Occasionally I packed my Kodak Super 27 camera to work, and before long, I was timing my afternoon coffee break to correspond with the arrival of SP's westbound San Joaquin Daylight #51. Not many of those negatives remain, but the few that do are a tangible reminder of the passing glory at 9th and L Streets in Modesto.
All kids should be so blessed!
Ted Benson
