Work Life

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

I needed something from my records for tax purposes yesterday (yes, ‘Tis the season to be filing). I’m one of those people who are paranoid about needing something and not having it, so I keep everything tax related in a filing cabinet in the attic, with records going back to the early 1990s.

So, in searching for said item, which I found in the “2009” folder, right where it was supposed to be, I did a little walk down memory lane, looking back at all the W-2’s and 1099’s of tax seasons past. in all my 50 years (34 of which were spent working) I’ve really only had three “careers” — that is, employment that was intended to be for the long haul and not just something I was doing to put money in my pocket. The rest, I would just call them “jobs,” and I’ve had a lot of those.

April will mark my 10th anniversary as Editor of the Evening Times, and August will be 15 years since I began work for what was then Crittenden Publishing. Both are the longest time I’ve held a single position or worked for a single company (although I guess technically, it has been split over two different owners, but I’m counting it either way.

See VIEWPOINT, page A6 VIEWPOINT

From page A4

My first-ever job, outside of mowing lawns or the summer I was in charge of putting down the lines and dragging the infield dirt for the MYSA baseball fields, was in 1990, working at Kroger, back when it was at the old place there by the Holiday Plaza Mall.

Like many a young man, I started out sacking groceries, eventually working my way up to cashier once I proved that I was reliable and such.

As far as first jobs go, it was fine. The really notable thing that occurred there during my sack-boy days was that I met the girl that would eventually become my wife (31 years come Feb. 13).

I quit that job when it began to interfere with my senior year of baseball, so I was “unemployed” until the next summer when I got a job at Sonic. No, not as one of the cool carhops with the skates and such, but working the grill and the ordering intercom. I did not really care for that… too greasy and too many hardto- understand people. Thankfully, that only lasted for the summer before I went off to college.

Unfortunately, college and I were not ready for each other at the time, so I dropped out and went through a series of odd jobs, including working the assembly line at Langston Bag, working as overnight security at Tom Sawyer’s Mississippi River RV Park, delivering pizza for two different (now defunct) local pizza places, and finally at Blockbuster Video.

Blockbuster was something of a dream job. I got to show off my movie knowledge and made some friends, but alas, after getting married, we moved up to Jonesboro so my wife could start college (and I could give it another go). I got on at the Kroger up there, and I had a part-time job at Subway. To this day, I always tell the folks behind the counter when I go to Subway that I used to be a “sandwich artist” myself. It’s sometimes gets a polite laugh, but usually just merits a blank stare.

Then we had a baby and moved back to Marion, where I needed a “real job” to support my family. It was then that I embarked on my first “career” at Southland Greyhound Park, beginning in 1994. I started out at the literal bottom of the ladder, as a “leadout,” which meant walking the dogs to the starting area, loading them and giving them back to their trainers after the race. You did that 15 times and then you went home.

So, just like my stint at Kroger, once I proved that I was reliable, I began to move up the ladder. These titles won’t mean anything to you if you’re unfamiliar with greyhound racing, but in quick succession, I went from Patrol Judge to Assistant Starter to Kennel Master to Scale Clerk to Assistant Racing Secretary and finally to Director of Racing, which was, and still is, the most money I ever made in a year.

Unfortunately, being in the entertainment business, you work when other people are off, so it was a ton of nights, weekends and holidays. Still, it was a good job but eventually, I went back to college and left the dog track behind for good in 2004.

It was then that I began my teaching career. That was a good job but a lot of work. I, along with my son and my daughter-in-law, all have teaching experience but no longer teach.

I did it for five years before going to work for a marketing company in Memphis. I made good money and got a lot of sales experience but the company split, with one partner moving to St. Louis and the other relocating to Houston. I was invited to go to either, but I wasn’t keen on moving my family, so I passed.

I spent that summer working on a farm in Hughes, which is hard work but I enjoyed the experience (not that I’d want to do it full time forever though), It was then that I found an entry-level sales job at Crittenden Publishing and did that for a few months before the West Memphis beat reporting job came open. I took it immediately and did that for five years before taking over as Editor.

They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I can’t say I’ve loved every job I’ve ever had but I do love what i do now.

Sigh, now I guess it’s back to the ol’ tax forms…