Saturday, June 11, 2011
 
WHEN I WAS IN MY TWENTIES
In my last post I wrote about "The WAITRESS" who at twenty-two was happy at her job and just wanted to have fun. That got me thinking about what I was doing at her age.

Highschool
Image: Millie Garfield High School Photo

When I graduated from high school a neighbor told me about a bookkeeping job in a nearby city. I got the job and stayed there until I was twenty-one.

In those days money was tight and "maybe" if the parents had a son - he was the one to go to college. If you were the daughter "forget it" - you got yourself a job and stayed with it until you got married and started a family. That was it, you became a stay-at- home housewife, just like Betty Draper on Mad Men.


Image: Betty Draper courtesy Mad Men AMC

Not me, at twenty-one I was very young and marriage was the last thing on my mind.

As I said earlier, after five years on my first job I decided to leave. There was no opportunity for advancement and I was not "having fun" on the job.

It was time for something different.

Photobooth
Image: Mille Garfield Photo Booth

I decided to take some time off that summer and figure out what I wanted to do next.

Well what do you know, My cousin worked for a restaurant that had a concession stand at the Suffolk Downs race track in a nearby city. They needed a clerk at the cigarette/cigar stand at the clubhouse.

Was I interested?

YES, that's just what I was looking for, certainly a change of pace, being in the great out of doors, meeting new people and being exposed to different lifestyles.

It proved to be a learning experience and "it was fun."

After that summer, it was back to the real world.

posted by Unknown @ 5:18 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >>
Comments:
Very reflective piece. I enjoyed it. It made me think about what I was doing at age 22.

Unlike the 22 year old waitress, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I just finished college at SUNY Buffalo and was about to to embark on a journey to begin graduate school for early childhood education. As for the fun part, it was one of my last summers, working in a day camp with the young children.

This is where I was when I was 22.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 6:24 PM
 
Hi Millie, I enjoyed your new post comparing yourself to the waitress. It made me think what I was doing at that age. At nineteen I got married and was told we would all live happily after like Cinderella. However I had a miscarriage of twins at 21 and at 23 years old I became a mother of a beautiful little girl.
I did not know the responsibilities that were in my future.
The lifestyle was so different then and now. We could not leave home till we got married. So we all looked for Prince Charming. I thought I found him at the time.

I could not think about having
FUN. I had to grow up!
Nanci
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 10:29 PM
 
Hi Millie....again. I had to comment on the photos when you were younger. You looked so cute and the name of your hair dobooniz was called a "Pompadour"
Do you remember? We all wore Pompadours and Page Boys.
Where did the years go?
I enjoy going back to yesterday. I thank you for bringing up the memories!
Nanci
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 10:51 PM
 
Millie, enjoyed reading this so much and it brought back memories.
I graduated from high school at 17 and entered the secretarial world.
Married at 21 and family started at 22. Yes, where have the years gone. Now 4 children, 5 grandchildren and alone and living my dream of relocating on my country property. Still dream of the ocean - like you do. 10 years younger then you and maybe it will still happen :)
# posted by Blogger One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. : 5:31 AM
 
At 22 I was married, working with the telephone company and four years away from my first child. Some happy times but some very sad times too. I spent a lot of time worrying about what might happen next. But this is a problem I have finally mastered.
# posted by Anonymous momma/mary : 11:04 AM
 
Nice photos Millie. I wish I had saved some of those photo booth photos from the 1950s. When I was 22 I had two children and was pregnnant with number three. Guess you know what I was doing. I held a number of parttime jobs during my 20s but never waitressing. I worked as a bookkeeper or clerk most of the time. My husband was military, so we moved often. Dianne
# posted by Anonymous schmidleysscribblins.wordpress.com : 1:11 PM
 
Millie, you were so beautiful!! (and still a looker!). At 22, I was out of college and cytotechnology school and engaged to be married - but 2 weeks before the ceremony I broke up with that guy. Shortly thereafter, I moved to another state and got a job in a hospital as a cytotechnologist.
# posted by Blogger kenju : 6:00 PM
 
Oh my gosh, you were as cute then as you are now.
I really enjoy reading your stories.
At 22 I had two children already, a boy and a girl:twins!
# posted by Blogger annie : 4:10 PM
 
Interesting work experiences you had at that age, but can understand your restlessness. College for the sons but not the dtrs you described was prevalent -- that's what my SIL said happened to her -- her bros. acct (he went to college) was different -- who knows.

I had just graduated from college. Circumstances resulted in an immediate return to midwest to small town where I became restless and left after a few years 'cause little variety of jobs available, much less for women -- worked as sec'y, then loan teller before leaving town. Was able to earn and save enough to pay off my college loan -- didn't cost nearly as much as recent years.
# posted by Blogger joared : 3:10 AM
 
I can relate to the attitude about girls going to college. My step-father wouldn't pay for my college education because he said, "girls only go to college to get a husband."

I had a variety of jobs by the age of 22, including file clerk at Douglas Aircraft. I got married when I was 23 and became the typical stay at home mom
# posted by Blogger Darlene : 4:20 PM
 
Thanks to everyone for their interesting stories about "when they were in their 20's.

Common thread - got married in their 20's, had kids and became stay-at-home moms.

A lot different today - leave home, live with someone, have a career, maybe get married and maybe have kids.

Times, they sure have changed!
# posted by Blogger Unknown : 4:51 PM
 
When I turned 22, our elder daughter was 11 months old. I was working to earn the money for my husband and me to return to school - he would work on an MSEE while I would complete my last year toward a BS in physics.

We had married in the middle of my junior year and he was graduated in the middle of my senior year.

As most women did in those days, I had to do some serious talking to get my folks to send me to college; but, they paid for my first 2.5 years and would have finished paying for four years had I not married and insisted upon paying for the rest, myself.

It is too bad that more girls/women were not able to reason with their parents on the issue of education. My folks didn't have much money; but, fortunately, my elder brother had won a 2-year, free-ride scholarship - something that wasn't available to me at a technical school.
Cop Car
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 5:25 PM
 
Thanks Millie, A total good read, since we can relate to many of your "life's experiences". We are just a bit younger that you, but many of your younger experiences are also ours. Thanks again. D & D Z, Austin, Tx.
# posted by Blogger DZimmer : 2:34 PM
 
Post a Comment

HOME
Powered by Blogger