April 29, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. Summer Jobs.

Mary Frances is excited. Last week she interviewed for a summer job, the first for her. And she thought it went well. The place is a coffee shop and book store. It is close to her University so she hopes to work there this summer and work part time through the school year. She was hired and has already had one day of training and will finish up this week. Then she will start work on Monday. She likes the place and she likes the people who own it, so all should be well. And they understand that she will be away for two weeks the last week of June and the first of July so she is very pleased. And I am too. Summer jobs are important. One of the things you learn is what you do not want to do for a career. I worked one summer at a Trust Company headquarters. A family friend and fellow Songster had a good job as a head of a department and she offered me a job for the summer. She wanted me to be sure to not let anyone know how well we knew each other so I stayed away from her at work. Many of the young ladies who worked there were fancy. They wore elegant clothes and high heels. The many boys working there paid the girls lots of attention., I on the other hand was not a bit fancy. I was energetic and plain. No jewelry, no make up, no high heels, no fancy clothes, so the young men paid no attention to me, which was fine to me. But one week my father picked me up in a yellow Cadillac convertible, which a friend had asked Dad to drive. Those young men spotted me driving away in the yellow Cadilloac and from then on, they wanted to be my friend. They thought I was rich. But it was too late for them. I already knew their true worth. From then on throughout my life, I was never impressed by people who only want to be nice because of my position. That was a good lesson learned during a summer job.I feel sure Mary Frances will learn many other useful lessons for her too.