Taco Pronto, hahahaha, what a fabulous name! Never heard that one before...probably because I live in Mississippi. But $1.25 an hour at Burger Queen? Did I read that correctly? I was making $30k as GM at Burger King about 15 years ago. I'm laying sod tomorrow. Really not looking forward to it, and it's only about 12ft! When I was a teen, I had no money to get my license plate. I would take the license plate off my mother or father's car when I went out at night. Man, this story is seriously familiar to me. Unfortunately, Otis is not. The world needs more Otis.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Cajingo. I enjoy reading your feedback. This is a fictional account of an actual event. Taco Pronto and Burger Queen are names I made up. I actually made $1.25 an hour working the grill at a Sonic drive-in in 1973. After my summer on the sod crew, I worked at a donut shop from 2am to 10am Saturdays and Sundays for $2.00 an hour. During the week I got paid $1.65 an hour under work study, working 2 hours a day in the Poli Sci and History Dept office. Your sod will do fine. Just prep the ground well before you lay it and keep it watered until the roots get established. Yeah, Otis was patient with me. I learned a lot that summer.
"Flaming body parts and smoldering sod would fly in all directions." Had me laughing out loud.
Always appreciated guys like Otis from my younger years...they can be invaluable in guiding young men through life. I enjoyed this life-affirming read.
Very cool story and experience K.C.! - Red? : ) I worked at a golf course that grew its own sod for greens and fairway patch work. We cut and laid it. I really liked that job and the guys I worked with.
A good boss like Otis is invaluable to a young guy. I've been fortunate in that regard.
Thanks for reading and sharing your experience. The greatest lesson I learned that summer was I didn't want to earning a living doing manual labor. Otis was quite a character. He started the sod business after winning a HUD contract to lay sod for a housing project. Another time, he somehow acquired a truckload of barbedwire during a shortage and made a killing on it. He called himself a hustler. He farmed a bit, but made most of his money trading.
I liked this little sojourn K.C. I had a similar experience in one of my first jobs where I was forced to drive the truck because I could drive a stick. Your story brought me back and yes, I learned a lot too.
Thanks for reading and sharing your experience. I drove cars with standard transmissions until 1982. Haven’t driven one since. The fire wasn’t the only incident that resulted from my carelessness or ignorance. Otis had me tow the GMC in an attempt to get it started. He hooked up a rather long chain to each truck then gave me the signal pull away. I’m sure he expected me to start slow and take the slack out of the chain, but I hauled ass and nearly yanked the front end off the GMC once the slack ran out. Then there was the time I ran into a car with the Ford, but that wasn’t my fault; the car pulled out in front of me.
I love this memoir, KC. I made snap judgements about Otis and learned I was wrong! "Otis asked if either one of us hippies knew how to drive a standard transmission." My own son always chooses to buy a standard transmission car. He says they are virtually theft-proof as no one knows how to drive them anymore. ha ha ha
Taco Pronto, hahahaha, what a fabulous name! Never heard that one before...probably because I live in Mississippi. But $1.25 an hour at Burger Queen? Did I read that correctly? I was making $30k as GM at Burger King about 15 years ago. I'm laying sod tomorrow. Really not looking forward to it, and it's only about 12ft! When I was a teen, I had no money to get my license plate. I would take the license plate off my mother or father's car when I went out at night. Man, this story is seriously familiar to me. Unfortunately, Otis is not. The world needs more Otis.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Cajingo. I enjoy reading your feedback. This is a fictional account of an actual event. Taco Pronto and Burger Queen are names I made up. I actually made $1.25 an hour working the grill at a Sonic drive-in in 1973. After my summer on the sod crew, I worked at a donut shop from 2am to 10am Saturdays and Sundays for $2.00 an hour. During the week I got paid $1.65 an hour under work study, working 2 hours a day in the Poli Sci and History Dept office. Your sod will do fine. Just prep the ground well before you lay it and keep it watered until the roots get established. Yeah, Otis was patient with me. I learned a lot that summer.
I took a double major in Political Science and History...but I would never have gotten up at 2am for it haha.
A cool memory from times gone by.
Hey, thanks for the recommendation. 👍
My pleasure.
"Flaming body parts and smoldering sod would fly in all directions." Had me laughing out loud.
Always appreciated guys like Otis from my younger years...they can be invaluable in guiding young men through life. I enjoyed this life-affirming read.
Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate the support. Good to hear from you.
Very cool story and experience K.C.! - Red? : ) I worked at a golf course that grew its own sod for greens and fairway patch work. We cut and laid it. I really liked that job and the guys I worked with.
A good boss like Otis is invaluable to a young guy. I've been fortunate in that regard.
Thanks for reading and sharing your experience. The greatest lesson I learned that summer was I didn't want to earning a living doing manual labor. Otis was quite a character. He started the sod business after winning a HUD contract to lay sod for a housing project. Another time, he somehow acquired a truckload of barbedwire during a shortage and made a killing on it. He called himself a hustler. He farmed a bit, but made most of his money trading.
I liked this little sojourn K.C. I had a similar experience in one of my first jobs where I was forced to drive the truck because I could drive a stick. Your story brought me back and yes, I learned a lot too.
Thanks for reading and sharing your experience. I drove cars with standard transmissions until 1982. Haven’t driven one since. The fire wasn’t the only incident that resulted from my carelessness or ignorance. Otis had me tow the GMC in an attempt to get it started. He hooked up a rather long chain to each truck then gave me the signal pull away. I’m sure he expected me to start slow and take the slack out of the chain, but I hauled ass and nearly yanked the front end off the GMC once the slack ran out. Then there was the time I ran into a car with the Ford, but that wasn’t my fault; the car pulled out in front of me.
I love this memoir, KC. I made snap judgements about Otis and learned I was wrong! "Otis asked if either one of us hippies knew how to drive a standard transmission." My own son always chooses to buy a standard transmission car. He says they are virtually theft-proof as no one knows how to drive them anymore. ha ha ha
Thanks for reading and sharing, Sharron. I haven’t driven a standard transmission since 1982, but I haven’t forgotten how.
Great memory K.C.! Thanks for sharing. - Jim
Thank you for reading and leaving a comment, Jim. I appreciate your support.