I do not know about you, but I remember when I got my first job vividly. The day after I turned sixteen, I went downtown to apply for a job for Christmas. Mind you, my birthday is in September, but I did not want to miss the opportunity.

I went to Sidey’s department store. I went to the office and asked for an application. This was a family-owned store with all members of the family in residence there at one time or another.

The girl at the desk handed me an application to be filled out. I went off to the side and filled it out. I was then asked to wait while a member of the family came to meet with me. I think I met with James Sidey. He asked why I wanted to work there. I told him that my family traded there and I admired their merchandise. I was dismissed and told I could go home. They would call if they wanted to employ me.

My mother was curious about my errand. I told her I applied for a job. She asked where I applied. I told her I applied at Sidey’s. She asked where else I applied. I told her I did not apply anywhere else. She asked me what I would do if I did not get the job. I told her I was sure I would.

It was about a week later when I got the call. I was hired for Christmas and should report the day after Thanksgiving. In the good old days Christmas rush did not begin until then.

I was assigned to work in the notions department. That was where they sold yarn, needles, thread, and buttons. They told me I would also be doing their gift wrapping. Oh, and when I was not busy, I would work in the children’s department.

That sounded like a lot of things to learn. On my first day a woman appeared who was to train me on gift wrapping. There were rolls and rolls of all kinds of paper.

The new paper was all for Christmas presents. They left the general gift wrap there as well as paper for weddings and showers. The woman showed me how to roll a ribbon around my hand and cut little snips for the tie. What they needed right then was red, green, blue, and purple bows. I got busy rolling the ribbon and soon had a stash of bows for gifts. It seemed like whenever I was not busy, I was rolling bows.

Friday and Saturday were very busy. I saw my mother and her sister shopping on Friday night. They went every week. They waved to me, but did not stop to talk because I was working.

I liked the people I worked with. I sometimes found myself covering the men’s department as well. The son-in-law worked there and when he asked me to cover it, I knew I had to say yes.

That season I wrapped hundreds of presents before Christmas. The big office was upstairs and the bosses could see all over the store. I knew they were watching the employees. I had no trouble keeping busy. There were always bows to be made.

When It was time for lunch, I took my lunch upstairs to a room reserved for the employees. I do not remember there being much there except for a table and chairs. It was a nice spot to relax though. I carried my lunch most days to save what I earned. I also got a store discount which helped with my Christmas shopping.

The Sideys were nice people to work for. I knew they attended a small church just up the street from the church I attended. Sometimes I saw them on Sunday. In those days there were no stores open on Sunday. It was a day of rest. Since I was in school, I could only work weekends until they began to be open until 9 p.m. every day. Then I balanced my school work to be able to accept those hours.

That first year, the Sideys had a Christmas party at one of the boy’s houses. It was very nice but since I was one of the youngest workers I did not know what was expected of me. There was only one other girl my age employed there.

I was asked to stay on until after inventory in January and I agreed.

That was it until Easter when they needed help once again. After that I filled in during the summer to cover vacations. I knew before I finished that I had a job next Christmas.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell. Contact her at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.