Speaking of Pioneers

I am the first person in my family that I am aware of that was a bicycle messenger for Western Union. It was my first paying job (except for some neighbors who would occasionally ask me to help with yard work, etc.)

Back in a day (I don't know if it can still be done) people used to send important messages by Telegram. Western Union was the predominate telegram company and I needed a job, so I worked for two weeks as a bicycle messenger for them. The problem was that the weekday bicycle messenger positions were already filled. I was therefore relegated to working Saturday and Sunday. That's one reason it only lasted two weeks (actually that was the main reason but for two sub-reasons).

The first sub-reason was that it required Sunday work.

The second sub-reason was that the weekday positions for messengers were not only filled with bicycle messengers, but also with motor messengers (guys old enough to have a chauffer's license so they could drive a commercial vehicle). So, the motor messengers delivered the far-out stuff (not weird and strange (as far as I know), just far away), and the bicycle messengers delivered the in-town stuff. But .... on the weekend, guess what? No motor messengers, so the bicycle messenger(s) had to deliver the far-out stuff. Since I was w.o.o.s (way out of shape), had access to a car, and had a heavy bike with full fenders, a coaster brake and only one gear, I resolved upon a stratagem.

I would load the bike in the car, drive and park somewhere downtown, and ride the bike to the office. Yes, I was cheating - not a good way to start on my very first job. But ... really, I had one telegram that I had to deliver way out at about 3300 East and 4500 South. Even though they gave me an hour and a half to deliver it, there was no way ... and they would yell at me. So, I rode the bike to the car, loaded it in, drove to a place near the delivery address, un-loaded the bike, rode the bike to the home, delivered the telegram and . . reverse procedure . . back to the office. Now I admit that the process didn't take one and a half hours, so what did I do, I rested a while and felt guilty about the whole thing.

I wish I could say that thats the worst thing I ever did.
Well, that's all for today.
Thanks for who you are!!!
Take care,
dadoo