Another slow day, another visit by Jerome. He is down here in the Basin looking after his “interests” and has some time to stop by and see us here on the Voices Campus. (He always has time.) And so as usual we are all off to lunch. And again we will let Jerome do most of the talking.

‘It’s been a while boys.’

(It hasn’t really. As if we had to, we asked him how things are going.)

‘You can’t make too much money these days as you all know.  So I have been thinking about side hustles. I think that is the name used these days for when you find something else you can do to make extra money.’  

(What are you going to do?)

‘Hold on to your seats boys, Motivational Speaking. My message will be of the “stick to it” nature. I have a good example from my younger days of early development. From one of my first jobs.

(Interesting Jerone. Tell us about it.)

It was one of my first jobs when I was just legally old enough to work. The job was in a large supermarket.

(We all looked at one another, Bagging groceries is a memory for most of us. We mentioned we also bagged groceries. How are you using this for motivational speaking?)

‘Not quite bagging. That would not have enough of a struggle to it.  I got on there as a bagger’s helper.’

(It’s noisy in here Jerome. Did you say bagger’s helper?)

‘Yes, bagger’s helper. It was a Union Shop.’

(We tried not to look at one another.)

Be kind Boys. It was a complex job. You always had to have a bag ready for the Bagger. If he had to ask you were in trouble. The job taught concentration. You could not let your mind wander.  At the beginning of your shift you had to make sure the station was well stocked with bags. You had to watch the groceries as they came down the conveyer belt.  If there were a group of cans coming down you had to have a double bag ready.

If a customer needed help loading their bags into their car it was the bagger’s helper who went out with them. But you had to be sure to leave several bags open and ready at you station before you left, and you had to hurry back. And there were times when the bagger at the next station did not show up and you had to work two stations.  

(Were you paid the same as the baggers?)

No. There was no salary for us, as such. Our reward was a free education learning a skill. We were fortunate that it was a tradition that the baggers shared their tips with us. Sometimes we would get tips when we helped customers load their car. We shared those back with the bagger. That was a way to build ‘goodwill.’ I will mention the importance of goodwill in my talks.

‘I was fortunate to work for several honest baggers. Sometime before I got on there was a scandal where a couple of baggers were demanding kickbacks from the tips they shared. Of they would tell the boss the helper was not double bagging on time. You could never become a bagger then. Fortunately the Union found out about it and disciplined the baggers. Made them share all their tips for a month.’

(You probably weren’t a bagger’s helper too long before you moved up to bagger.)

‘Well no, not too long for me. And this is where I would make my point about sticking to it for my motivational talks. I was a bagger’s helper for two years.’

(Then you moved up to bagger?)

‘Well. No. I finished school and left. But I was waitlisted for bagger. I would have made it. My point for the talk will be that I stuck it out and would have become a full bagger. I didn’t give up. Never give up.’

(I don’t think we will be able to look at grocery baggers in the supermarkets the same now after hearing your story.)

I don’t certainly. Don’t get me started. In my day there were career baggers.  They took pride in their skills. The baggers these days. No fundamentals. They don’t double bag for cans. Put cans in on top of the bananas.  Don’t keep all the produce separate in the same bag. Put the eggs in the bag first. Mistakes no one who apprenticed as a bagger’s helper would make.’

(Is it a disappointment that you never became a full bagger?)

‘No. It is the best for me that I didn’t. I might still be there in the store as a career bagger. Never to experience the accomplishment I have had since.’

END