In the summer of 1981, between my freshman and sophomore years at the University of Pittsburgh, I worked in the Housekeeping Department at Mercy Hospital in Altoona. The job was courtesy of my sister Joan who worked in the Human Resources Department at Mercy.
The job description involved mopping and buffing floors, picking up trash in offices, polishing elevators, and a general clause of "Other Responsibilities As Required". Turns out these "Other Responsibilities" included cleaning up the odd case of projectile vomiting in Pediatrics or tending to situations where explosive diarrhea had gone bad (does that ever not go bad?). Think of Winston Wolf (played by Harvey Keitel) from Pulp Fiction, only without the blood and guts (well not all of the guts anyways).
It was my first real job and I learned much during that summer just by observing how people in various levels of power and status within an organization treat those in lower levels. Lessons that served me well in the Real World a couple of years later.
Summer jobs were incredibly difficult to find in those days (the Early 1980s Recession was just starting) and I was really grateful to Joan for pulling those strings for me.
The job was second shift (3:00 PM to 11:30 PM) from Monday to Friday and one of the side benefits of that was that I really got into late night TV. I would have a hard time winding down so would often stay up until 3:30 or 4:00 each morning.
I began to appreciate the brilliance of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (though that summer I would usually miss the monologue). Carson was a true American original, born and raised in the Midwest, but able to successfully navigate the politics and egos of the entertainment industry in both New York and Los Angeles. Through it all, Johnny continued to seem to be one of us.
If you are among those of us that are male and have gone through a divorce, the following exchange between Johnny and band leader Doc Severensin is a classic. Even if you aren't or haven't, this clip is still "Gold, Jerry!"
I can't give you any.....but I'll sell you some!
