Odd Jobs for a Student, Circa 1960

Previously, I took shape up summer jobs at the Bronx Zoo. Prospective workers appeared  in the early morning, and managers selected their staff for the day. Good workers and friends were picked over and over again. I knew many managers, because they lived in my neighborhood. First, I sold ice cream and sodas from a pushcart. The manager worked with me. He showed me how to short change customers, but I would not do that. He said that because kids stole his sodas, we had to make up the shortage – or else it came out of his pocket. Also, it covered the cost of sodas we drank while working. That job only lasted one day. I enjoyed catching bees, and putting them in bottles cooled with dry ice. The bees would freeze (suspended animation). We would then leave the bottles out and the bees would thaw out and fly away.

I even had a job standing on a scaffold, throwing raw fish to the seals. It entertained both me and the visitors.

I  also, sold popcorn crackerjack, soda, ice cream from a store near the lion house. I moved on to a better job in the zoo.

I washed dishes at a restaurant across from the outdoor elephant exhibit. We ate and drank soda free. When it was slow, we watched the elephants, and watched the people watching the elephants. My friend Marty was ripping the meat off of a turkey to make turkey sandwiches. The manager looked at the carcass in the garbage can and said “There is still some meat on those bones”. Marty said “Too late, its already in the garbage”.  The manager demanded that he take the turkey carcass out of the garbage, and finish his job of removing the meat. My friends and I continued working there, but brought our own lunches. We still drank there soda.

I move on to be a “boat boy” at “Boat Park”. The zoo owned a lake with a beautiful waterfall. They rented out rowboats, by the hour. Boat boys helped customers in and out of the rowboats. At the end of the day, boat boys retrieved boats that had drifted away during the day. I remember my friend Marty helping people into a boat. He had one foot on the boat to keep it from moving – and the other foot on the ground. The boat started drifting and Marty did a split.  Then, he fell into the water – which was only 3 or 4 feet. I wished I had a camera.