When I was only sixteen, I made a decision that I would like to enter the work force. I did not want to go back to school in September, so my friend and I went looking for work. We felt we were so grown up and could make it on our own. Would you believe that we were hired as janitors or cleaning ladies in a hospital? I am not quite sure of our titles.
We were told, "come prepared to stay for five weeks at a time." We went to homes in our little community to borrow luggage, and it had to be large. Back in those days no one traveled much, and luggage was hard to find. My uncle had a piece that he used in the Army. It was large! I filled it with nearly everything that I owned. My uncle drove us to the hospital and carried the luggage in for us.
My first day on the job was a disaster. First on the agenda was Scrubbing an operating room and that was bad! I’m afraid to look at blood and there was lots of it. I survived! Next on the agenda: Polishing the patient’s floors in their rooms. I was not told that I was only to do the walking area of the room and not under the patient’s bed. The first room I went into with my polisher had a sweet elderly lady in the bed. It took me a while to find a plug and get the polisher under her bed but I was so proud of myself. All at once the polisher started bouncing up and down. It seemed to be making a loud noise. The next thing I heard above the loud noise, was the sweet elderly lady screaming for help. I was so worked up because I could not find the switch to shut the machine off, and never thought of pulling the plug. A nurse arrived to find me on my hands and knees under the bed. I couldn’t move the machine because it was caught. Finally the nurse grabbed the machine, shut it off, and gave me the third degree. I gave myself a talking to after the incident. "Lilah, you have to be more careful, that dear elderly lady could have taken a heart attack, and you would have been to blame."
They changed my job from polishing floors, to scrubbing elevators. I thought to myself, "Lilah, surely you can get this right." I had no problem filling a large bucket with water and soap. I placed it in an elevator and was about to put the mop in the water when all of a sudden I begin to wonder; "am I seeing things?" The door of the elevator closed and I found myself standing with a mop in my hand; my bucket gone, and I didn’t know how to use an elevator. I found the stairs and began to travel from floor to floor. I can’t remember who came to my rescue, but later that day we found the bucket. Someone had taken it off the elevator.
By the end of the first day, I began to question my calling. When we crawled into bed that night, I was so tired from traveling up and down the stairs; I really was in need of sleep. Just as I closed my eyes the sirens began to sound. I don’t know about you, but when I hear sirens I get goose bumps and a fear comes over me. My friend and I didn’t sleep a wink that night. We talked the situation over and came to the decision, "this is not our calling." We passed in our resignation the next morning and I don’t recall anyone asking us if we would reconsider.
We started for home, a twenty-five mile trip, with our giant luggage. I can’t remember who gave us a drive but I do remember walking down the hill toward home, dragging the monstrosity of a case. My mom didn’t know what to say when I stepped in. After I explained to her about my first day on the job she understood very well.
I went back to school in September in grade eleven. My mind was made up that I would graduate. I received my diploma in June 1958 and I am so thankful. Some times we have to learn lessons the hard way.
