Mike "Dirty Jobs" Rowe Nails It

[Packard53]

Bob: While you were wearing that uniform shirt part time from 1966 to 1971 I was doing something a little different from 1968 through 1970. In January 1968 before I graduated from high school I joined the US Navy Reserves, called to active duty in early 1969, went to Vietnam in 1969, came home late in 1970 from Vietnam. You must have had some type of draft deferment during the years you were wearing that shirt part time or were dam lucky not to be drafted. The colors of the uniforms I wore during 1968 through 1970 were Navy Blue and Army Brown.

John S.

Proudly and happily worn part-time from 1966-1971. It no longer fits and the dry cleaner did their best to clean it this week, but with limited success:



(If you think it is stained and dirty now, you should have seen it after hanging in the closet for 45+ years!) BP

[hausdok]

Proudly and happily worn part-time from 1966-1971. It no longer fits and the dry cleaner did their best to clean it this week, but with limited success:



(If you think it is stained and dirty now, you should have seen it after hanging in the closet for 45+ years!) BP

Hi Bob,

I had that shirt. Except mine was blue with a red and white oval that said Mike and over the left pocket was a long white rectangle with red border and the word TOYOTA. Re. the service station comments. Only about a month ago I was thinking that it might be kind of cool to open up another filling station and have a two-man crew like I had in '71 running out to the island, taking the order, starting the gas in the tank and then hitting the front and back windshield and checking oil and fluids, collecting the money, run inside, ring it up and then run back with the change - just like the old days. A few high school kids manning the pump, spotless rest rooms, and hustle and service. Who knows? It might be such a novelty that long lines form at the island. Then again, it might flop and I'd have screwed myself again.

Your question - did I look like a kid? I looked exactly like that guy at the link below when I initially started but a couple of years later I had hair down to my shoulders and kind of looked like a not very attractive girl, I'm sorry to say.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208535112153682&set=a.1592450369549.2081847.1184589976&type=3

[jclary]

Well...I was in Nam from November '67 to Nov '68. Made it in time for the big Tet shindig. It was a million dollar experience I wouldn't give five cents to repeat. I harbor no ill feelings to those who didn't make the trip. Like anything in life, you can find a way turn it into a positive, or allow it to ruin you. For me, it was part of my life's journey. An adventure.



As a young troubled country bumpkin, more innocent in things of the world than the character portrayed as Gomer Pyle, it provided enlightenment, and an opportunity to mature in ways not available among family & friends. I joined the Air Force because I felt a sense of duty to my country. I also knew it would make me eligible for the G.I. bill, and despite getting made fun of & ridicule from family & friends, I kept that goal in focus. Once I finished my military stint, I was shocked at how hostile the local VA rep was when I attempted to qualify for college assistance. Only after working & saving my own money for my first semester tuition, was I able to get assistance. When I did, the $400 a month didn't cover tuition & books, let alone housing, food, gas, etc.

One thing about not starting college until 24 years of age. After surviving a war, living on my own, paying bills...I had little patience for certain professors who thought they could indoctrinate me with some of the "junk science" crap some of them were pushing back in the early '70's. More than once, I have let a professor know I was paying for an "education, and not an indoctrination!"

Truth is, the best education today is being performed in our Technical Colleges and Community Vocational schools. They are the ones teaching folks how to accomplish tasks that are directly related to the money in their wallet. Just think, when some highly educated Ivy League Professor, with all his knowledge finds himself helpless due to Alzheimer's, dementia, or just old age, he/she will end up totally dependent on a certified nursing assistant (CNA) most likely educated in a community college. Today, a neighbor, (college educated business owner) stopped by to give me a couple hundred bucks for repairing the kitchen sink in a house he's selling. (I would'a been happy with 30 bucks for the ten minute job.) I had just completed a four wheel disc brake job on my Dodge Ram. Doing it myself was less than $70.

I know a bunch of college educated folks that can neither do plumbing or mechanic work, and lots of smart technically educated people that can, who charge them exorbitant amounts of money. Not that one is smarter than the other, but appropriately educated for their chosen field. Making work cool again, should include the attitude that all worthwhile work should be a source of pride. Whether you are a cook, server, or brain surgeon. There is a worthwhile pursuit for all, regardless of intellect, or talent. Personally, I have a broad range of education, experience, and skills. It in no way makes me better than anyone else...however...it certainly gives me more opportunity for a variety of "life adventure" than those more narrowly focused.

[hausdok]

Bob: While you were wearing that uniform shirt part time from 1966 to 1971 I was doing something a little different from 1968 through 1970. In January 1968 before I graduated from high school I joined the US Navy Reserves, called to active duty in early 1969, went to Vietnam in 1969, came home late in 1970 from Vietnam. You must have had some type of draft deferment during the years you were wearing that shirt part time or were dam lucky not to be drafted. The colors of the uniforms I wore during 1968 through 1970 were Navy Blue and Army Brown.

John S.

Thank you for your service. Not everyone needed deferments and not everyone chose to enlist. There was certainly nothing wrong if Bob chose not to go into the military, pursued other interests and was never drafted. Some guys and gals chose the service - some didn't. As far as being drafted - that was just the luck of the draw back then. My lottery number was 333. I was called in for my physical, classified as 1A and never heard from them again. I wasn't a college boy, but I figured with such a high number I wasn't likely to get drafted for a very long time; so I stayed busy trying to make it as a mechanic and had no interest in getting involved in what by then appeared to be a hopeless situation for all sides. I went into the Army in August 1975 though; and stayed there almost twenty one years. I participated in several conflicts and retired in 1996 as a Master Sergeant. I've been self-employed since I retired. I'm proud of my time in the service but not rabidly so. It was what it was - a job and a duty and most of us tried, most of the time, to do the job the best that we could. I have a high school diploma and about half a year at university in a major that has nothing to do with what I do now. Because I was conditioned as a teenager to believe that I needed a four year degree to get ahead in this world, I still sometimes think about finishing up with university and getting my degree - but at this point in my life it's not going to help me or hurt me - it would just be another attaboy on the wall. Not sure I want to expend all that mental energy for something that really wasn't needed.

My little brother got fed up with high school at the age of 17, punched out a pervert of a math teacher and ran away. My dad went bonkers, searched high and low but couldn't find him. That's because his big brother - me - had bought him a bus ticket to Niagara Falls and he got off the bus and calmly walked into Canada pretending to be one of a bunch of kids in a very large family, walking right past the Canadian border control guy. He hooked up with a childhood friend whose family had moved to Canada and lay low up there. Eventually he decided that he wanted to join the army and learn how to repair helicopters. Until my father finally caved in and agreed to the kid's wishes, his location was a close-held secret. Finally the old man caved, the kid came home, took his GED, passed it easily, went into the Army, got his training and shipped out for Nam in mid-71. He returned a year later and was mustered out six months early. I guess things were winding down by then and they were down-sizing the force and letting lots of folks go early. Shortly after he was mustered out he had a motorcycle accident and lost his right foot at the ankle and was fitted with a prostheses. He went on to work for Pratt and Whitney in Connecticut, then the US Air Force as a civilian quality control inspector at the same plant in Connecticut, then to the US embassy in Israel for three years where he supervised an Israeli maintenance crew that serviced and refurbished US and allied F16s, then he did three years as a maintenance tech on the Presidential Helicopter Fleet, and then about another five in the old McDonnell-Douglas-now-Boeing plant in South Carolina as head of the quality control section. Then he did a year in Iraq in the blue zone, returned to the plant in South Carolina and three years ago he retired, got his private pilot's license, bought a couple of vintage airplanes that he's restoring and eventually he got his instructor and twin engine ratings. He lives in Piedmont, SC now. He's done pretty well for himself - all with only a GED.

Millennials don't understand these things. They are so used to getting obstacles to their progress removed to make it easier for them that they think all they have to do is get a degree and everything is going to be swell. Try to tell them anything different and they blow you off. I've had more than a few tell me that I wasted my life as a soldier because, in their opinion, people only go into the military because they are too dumb to make it on the outside. To some of them, serving in the military isn't any different than lolling on Mom's sofa with a controller in their hands and shooting digital figures on a television screen. Grounded in reality they ain't. Ask 'em what they plan to do with their life and you get told that they are going to make it in this world while staying clean and not having to do any physical labor, and they are fully confident that they'll make their first million before they are twenty-five. Sometimes, trying to reason with one of them is like talking to a signpost - no indication of any active brain activity or comprehension as you look them in the eyes - that is, if they'll even deign to meet your lowly gaze.

[BobPalma]

Re: The service station comments.

Only about a month ago I was thinking that it might be kind of cool to open up another filling station and have a two-man crew like I had in '71 running out to the island, taking the order, starting the gas in the tank and then hitting the front and back windshield and checking oil and fluids, collecting the money, run inside, ring it up and then run back with the change - just like the old days. A few high school kids manning the pump, spotless rest rooms, and hustle and service. Who knows? It might be such a novelty that long lines form at the island. Then again, it might flop and I'd have screwed myself again.

Your question - did I look like a kid? I looked exactly like that guy in my avatar when I initially started but a couple of years later I had hair down to my shoulders and kind of looked like a not very attractive girl, I'm sorry to say.

I hear that, Mike.

Just don't forget the free glass tumblers in a cardboard carrying case with a fill-up during your Grand Opening.

Late July 1956:





Check out those hours: 7AM until 8PM. I have no doubt my late Uncle Milton (Dad's younger brother) was there for all 11 hours the new station was open, during the Grand Opening. (What were we saying about people being willing to WORK?) BP

[sweetolbob]

I hear that, Mike.

Just don't forget the free glass tumblers in a cardboard carrying case with a fill-up during your Grand Opening.

If they don't give S&H Green Stamps I'm not stopping. Bob

[BobPalma]

If they don't give S&H Green Stamps I'm not stopping. Bob

How many do you want, Bob? I've got 3/4 book of S&H Green Stamps but the S&H company will only buy whole books. (Seriously, there is a cash market for them today, surprisingly; Google it! ) BP

[hausdok]

Yeah,

My place was open from 6 am to Midnight Monday through Thursday and opened at 6 am on Friday and didn't close till midnight on Sunday. I would usually work through the weekend. One of the gas jockeys would take over at the office for about four or five hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoon while I went back and stretched out on a cot for 4-5 hours in the parts room. I didn't make them wear the hats but they did have to wear uniforms and they did have to hustle. If they weren't moving fast enough there was a bunch of guys waiting in line for a chance to get the job and be able to bring their hot rod into the shop when nobody was at the island and there wasn't any other work; so that they could tinker and soup it up.

One Sunday I didn't get my afternoon nap 'cuz the kids were at a ball game. That night a young lady I knew asked me for lift home to Dover Plains - 10 miles down route 22. At midnight I closed up, she got in the car and we headed for Dover. Three miles north of Dover I dozed off at the wheel, crossed the center line and hit a semi head on. Fractured my left femur, shortening my left leg an inch and spent the next six months on crutches. She walked away with a bump on the head. My car was totaled, the semi looked like it has suffered an abrasion on its cheek. The driver was pissed because I'd delayed him.

I closed the shop doors not long after that and sold the business to a couple of mechanics I'd worked with at Ghetty Ford in Millbrook for a few months when I was still in the high school trade school course. Really didn't have a choice; I couldn't work on cars, which is where I'd been making the real money, and the kids were running the station. The daily receipts didn't match up with the gas used or the reduction in parts inventory. It was good while it lasted, but I sold it before they cleaned me out and left me in the hole.

Learned that night not to be swayed by a pretty face, gorgeous blue eyes, batting eyelashes and a lilting voice above a killer body.

[bezhawk]

I love all this reminiscing about the good old days while disparaging todays youth. I'm sure my lazy grand daughter that got a full scholarship to an ivy league school would appreciate it.
When YOU went to school tuition could be paid for while attending school, and working part time. Tuition for Yale was 2400 a year in 1970. Hourly wage was 1.40 an hour. Today, the same tuition averages nearly 50,000. Hourly wage, 7.50. You have to work OVER 17 hours a day to pay it off as you go. Sleep is over rated for these LAZY millenials.
Stick to watching and following views that reinforce your narrow view of the world. Shout get off my lawn to the neighbors. Tell the world how backwards thinking you are. see how far you get in this world while you strip all your comforts and protections away from todays youth, because you already benefited from them and are near death, so no one else should have them.

Maybe that is not how you think...but what are we supposed to think, if that is what you post?

[8E45E]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHPfgsTVTjA

We saw that video here; along with even MORE comments on the subject:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?94812-Gotta-Love-Millennials

Craig

[rbruner]

Locally we have the College of Building Arts. It is located in a converted trolley barn from the 1890's. Talk about talent, these students are working with plaster, wood, glass & brick. Power tools aren't allowed the 1st year. Ambition & skill has placed several students on projects around the world.

[rbruner]

Bob, you're right about learning from others. A group of my high school journalism class was producing the local newspaper after graduation. At $1.85 an hour we had a crash course in ad & page building. Long hours and determination turned into a 20 year career in the graphics industry.
My wife & I started our own graphics business in Toronto, which generated a commercial bldg. & a weekend cottage.
I don't have regrets about not going to college. I wouldn't have made a very good frat boy anyhow! ☺

[hausdok]

Well, sorry that you took it as disparagement and narrow mindedness. I was describing what I've been seeing with my own eyes and hearing with my own ears because I feel I have a very open view of the world around me. I know there are many other folks who have seen and heard the same kinds of things from millennials - hell, it's the stuff of SNL and late night TV these days. I can't help it, and certainly won't be offended or feel bad if you took it differently.

You can't please everyone all the time. You can only please some of the people some of the time

I love all this reminiscing about the good old days while disparaging todays youth. I'm sure my lazy grand daughter that got a full scholarship to an ivy league school would appreciate it.
When YOU went to school tuition could be paid for while attending school, and working part time. Tuition for Yale was 2400 a year in 1970. Hourly wage was 1.40 an hour. Today, the same tuition averages nearly 50,000. Hourly wage, 7.50. You have to work OVER 17 hours a day to pay it off as you go. Sleep is over rated for these LAZY millenials.
Stick to watching and following views that reinforce your narrow view of the world. Shout get off my lawn to the neighbors. Tell the world how backwards thinking you are. see how far you get in this world while you strip all your comforts and protections away from todays youth, because you already benefited from them and are near death, so no one else should have them.

Maybe that is not how you think...but what are we supposed to think, if that is what you post?

[hausdok]

Locally we have the College of Building Arts. It is located in a converted trolley barn from the 1890's. Talk about talent, these students are working with plaster, wood, glass & brick. Power tools aren't allowed the 1st year. Ambition & skill has placed several students on projects around the world.

I believe there is a college in Kentucky that added a building conservation course a few years ago.

A home inspector I know from back east, Ezra Malarnee, dropped out of the gig for a couple of years to attend that course and earn a degree in that discipline. I'm pretty sure he's older than I am.

I've seen a few of his discussions on various home inspector discussion boards. I think he's returned to doing home inspections and that his intent was always to come back. I seem to recall him telling someone in one of those discussions that he took the course so that that he'd have a better understanding of how things were done on older homes, which make up the majority of the homes that he inspects in his area; and that, by learning building conservation techniques, he is better able to advise his clients about issues found in those older homes and is able to make competent recommendation for techniques to be used to bring some of those grand old homes back.

[Packard53]

Mike: I would say that we are about the same age give o r take a couple of years which is to say we are of the same generation.. You sure are acting as if our generation was perfect which is far from the truth. Part of the problems we have with some millennials today is because of our generations drug culture of the late 60's dating although the 80's that our generation is famous for. Remember pot, heroin, cocaine, lsd and other drugs our generation used. That drug culture has migrated down through two generations now.

You have made comments about the weight of some children today do yourself a favor take a good long look at yourself in a mirror Being that you stated that your doctor told you to lose 50 lbs. being that much over weight what kind of example have you set for your children and grand children in that area of human health. When I graduated from high school I was 6 ft 2 inches tall weighed 160 lbs sock & wet I was real skinny then. Got on the scales at the local YMCA today weighed 187 lbs in my street cloths and shoes. I work out three times a week which helps me from gaining excess weight because of the back problems I have. I could never imagine letting myself get 50 lbs over weight. When the last time you did any hard physical work.

From being on local school board for several years I know first hand we have a lot of young people out their that are very bright hard working persons making great contributions to our society despite what you think.

John S.