First Jobs

I was a child who retreated into my imagination and created imaginary friends who never invited me to their imaginary parties.
I finally felt like a grown up when I got my first two jobs. At 16 I became an usher at a local theater. I got a jacket, bow tie and my own locker. I stood in the back with my flashlight and did basically nothing for sixty cents an hour. I got to watch Peter O'Toole in Lord Jim about 20 times. I'd take the bus home feeling so adult.
My second job was helping the milkman, which consisted of getting up at 330am and walking to his house where I chopped ice and tossed it in cartons of milk and juice. I didn't rattle bottles or break any. I was quick and quiet in the truck and on the street. I learned a valuable skill--chopping ice. At daybreak I was on my way home and back to bed.
Eventually people got their milk at supermarkets and milkmen vanished. I don't know what happened to Tony, my boss. Maybe he returned to school and learned a new skill. Maybe he wound up being an usher at a high end theater. Don't overlook the prestige of wielding a flashlight.