Chapter 1.2 -- Homecoming Dance -- Work
Mom suggested I take the newspaper route back over for school books and dating money.
While I was in Japan, one of my old managers at the Odessa American circulation department had asked if I was available, and she had taken on one of my old routes in my stead while I was on my mission -- mostly for exercise and for talking to the neighbors. She said she was now ready to start just walking without the newspapers for exercise.
Dad was not enthusiastic. "You're not going to save up enough money for school with a paper route."
"It's enough to go to OC, if you'll let me stay at home. With an associate's degree, I should have better leverage for part-time work while I go to a four-year school."
"I don't think that's the way it works. Why don't you go see if Texas Instruments will hire you back on?"
I had worked for TI as an assembly line test and repair technician, at the plant near the airport, for about six months before my mission.
"Dad, I never really came up to speed when I was working for them."
"Then why did they put you on the startup Speak-n-Spell line?"
"'Cause I wasn't productive anywhere else."
I now realize that probably was not true.
"What was it you designed for them? You said you did something the engineers were too busy to do."
"Power supply regulator circuit for the test station power supplies. But it was just a hack, a stop-gap until they could get an engineer to do the real job."
"Didn't they say something about talking with them again after your mission was done?"
"No. I got the impression they were disappointed that I was dropping out, but not that unhappy."
There, too, I now think I may have misinterpreted their efforts to understand my need to go serve my God. Or may memory might even be faulty. I have vague memories both ways about whether management encouraged me to return.
"You won't know for sure unless you go back and apply again."
I didn't have a good answer for that, but I never went back to TI to find out.
Chika once said, when I mentioned I had worked for TI before my mission, that I should have gone back to TI. I could have taken classes at OC and UTBP in the evenings. With my broken Japanese being better than the nothing that was the general option then, TI would have sent me to TI Japan after I was up to speed, and then Chika and I would have met when I went down to the Kansai area for some single's activity with the Church. And I would have had a stable job and money when we got married.
You can hypothesize anything when you start with a known false premise, and no one can prove you wrong. Can't prove you right, either, but that's apparently beside the point.
On the other hand, if it was right to marry Chika, if the Lord had led us in spite of the mistakes we made on the way, perhaps He would have led us to each other even if I had followed the better road. Still hypothesis contrary to fact, but God does love his children.
So Mom and I went to the Odessa American offices and made the necessary arrangements, and I started delivering newspapers in the afternoons and weekend mornings in December. That gave me a small, consistent framework within which to start reaching back out to the money-making world, and time to think.
And time to try to read that Japanese novel, practically one character at a time.
During the weeks that followed, I applied for readmission to Odessa College, went to talk with the stake leaders, and did a few other things I needed to do to try to figure my life out.
"Hello?"
I thought I almost recognized the voice, but I was pretty sure it was not her.
"Uhm, hi. My name's Joe Reeves, and I'm an old friend of Beryl's and I'm wondering if you could put me in touch with her."
"Oh?" The woman on the other end of the line let suspicion show in her voice. "Where from?"
"Junior high and high school."
"What did you say your name was again?"
"Joe Reeves. Marion Joe Reeves."
"Hmm. Okay, give me your phone number and next time I talk to her I'll see if she wants to call you."
"Should I call back in a week?"
"Or a month. Or not."
"Thanks."
"Goodbye."
A couple of days later, the phone rang.
"Joe?"
"Beryl." I swallowed. No time for sweat to break out. "Hi. How's it going?"
"Uhm, it's okay. You're back from Japan?"
"Yeah. I was wondering if we could get together and talk. Maybe see if we want to go out."
"Well, I'm in town today, but I don't have any time. And I won't be back for a few weeks. School, you know."
"Getting ready for finals, huh?"
"Yeah. Lots to study. Are you planning to go back to school?"
"Looking at my options now."
"Are you looking at Tech?" Her voice was not offering clues, but her words did offer openings.
"Well, it's one of the options. I need to go talk to their counselors and see what's available, I think."
"Will you be coming up soon?"
"I think so. We could meet there for lunch or something?"
"Sure."
"Can I get your number there, and give you a call when I know when the appointment is?"
She gave me her number and we agreed I'd call the next evening.
And I immediately rode my bike to OC campus to look at a Texas Tech catalog, to get phone numbers and other information. I made one short call on the expensive daytime rates to make an appointment with the admissions counselors, and the next evening called Beryl in Lubbock to make arrangements to meet her on the next Thursday, I think it was.
And then I had two problems. Or three: Dad said he'd loan me the money for gas, but I'd have to figure out where I'd stay the night before myself. Or get up at six to drive up.
Mom said she'd take the route back for a day while I went, if I couldn't get back home in time.
[Latest backup at https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2020/01/bk01-33209-homecoming-dance-work.html.
First backup at https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2020/01/bk-33209-homecoming-dance-work.html.
Originally part of https://joelrees-novels.blogspot.com/2020/01/33209-homecoming-dance.html.]
No comments:
Post a Comment