Robin Herren Sievers, formerly of Avondale, retired PR professional
“I was Winnie the Pooh every Saturday through the summer at the Sears in Atlanta when I was 15. I have vivid memories of children attacking while I wore a hot-house costume while not speaking and trying to be nice. It was in the days before big, heavy costumes like that had any cooling packs or fans. I would take breaks to go to the bathroom, which took at least 20 minutes, and I would be soaked with sweat. I found that if I weighed in the morning before putting on the costume and then when I finished I had dropped about five pounds. And, Oh Lawd, did that thing stink! It was then I made the decision I loathed children and would never be a parent! While I was determined to never reproduce, I did manage to squeeze out three of the little suckers! I still have flash backs every time I see Winnie!”
Sharon Cobb, Riverside, screenwriter, filmmaker, author
“It was 1967. Everyone knew that girls weren’t butchers. But I always defied the gravity of conventional wisdom, playing in a rock n’ roll band all my teen years when only boys did that. So, when my dear grandfather, Jodie T. Snowden, suggested I work in his butcher shop in Pierson, Florida before and after school during my senior year in high school, I leapt at the chance to carry beef quarters weighing more than I did and wield a cleaver and butcher knife like a pro. I learned that girls could be strong, and I could do anything if I put my mind to it
Julia Long Painter, Orange Park
“The oddest job I’ve ever held was peeling the price tags off of L’Eggs pantyhose packages back when they came in those giant plastic eggs. Later, I got ‘promoted’ to cleaning and sorting them to be sent back out to stores. It was during my senior year in high school, and I always said, someday, I’ll tell people about this being the weirdest job ever!”
Janet Lundborg Gay, Westside
“I worked in a potato field in Minnesota near my South Dakota hometown around 1966. I would stand at the back of a big machine with a belt around me so I wouldn’t fall. As it went down the rows it would pick up dirt and potatoes. My job was to push dirt to the left and potatoes to the right. I was a sight to see at day’s end! It was dirty, but I loved it because it was outside, and it was different from any job I had ever had. Also, we got potatoes to take home.”
Dean “Mac” McDonald, Middleburg
“I was the security/bouncer at one of those old lingerie modeling shops – the ones where the guys would come in and pick a girl to ‘model’ lingerie in private for him. I actually sat in a back room monitoring everything via cameras all over the shop. They didn’t want a guy out front, for fear it would scare away potential clients. The building itself is gone now. They used to have these shops all over town. I can’t remember for sure, but I think [former Mayor] Tommy Hazouri led the charge to get them closed down. Yeah, it was a very interesting job.”
Photo Credit: Carlos Cruz Artegrafia
