20th Century Work

So, at long last, I am in the city and the 20th century.  My father's mantra was, "If you want to have money, you have to go to the city."  Given my early viewpoint, I interpreted that to mean his approval of the desire for money and the city.  Now I look at the statement and realize no approval is implied, only cause and effect.  But I found that money may have been there in the city, but the conditions of life were such that money was essentially worthless.  My parents "rent" was payment of property taxes that increased over the years to ever higher amounts has county governance changed from rural to urban desires.  My rent was always a much higher percentage of what I was ever able to earn.  Dress requirements for work were expensive compared to working on your farm.  Utilities cost more.  Thus, although there was more money, there was not much left after the basic, minimal lifestyle my wages paid.

I got my first job after searching for weeks and weeks and being told I had no experience.  Then an employment agency sent me to the local insurance company for the military.  I got paid $50 a week.  The married women had money to buy the "special," meat and 2 vegetables with a dessert.  I only had money for the two vegetables.  I decided I had to get serious about finding a man to marry.  I also learned to eat fast because after traveling the escalator to the cafeteria floor, waiting in line, and finding a table, there was about 5 minutes to eat.  I still wolf down my food, seemingly unable to reverse this compulsion to get it done fast.

After a while, I did find someone who appeared to want me, perhaps not for sure, because it took the impending birth of our child that caused a church wedding 2 months before I entered the sanctified state of motherhood.  Regretfully, even with his college education, he only earned about $50 a week in a battery factory.

This man changed my view of the world from being a Republican to being a Democrat, back when Democrats were actually an alternative to greedy corporates.  My parents were divided, one Republican and one Democrat.  I don't remember who was which.

I checked books out of the library on being pregnant.  What I learned was that women needed a steady supply of calcium to ensure enough for the mother and the fetus.  My mother had lost all her teeth to something she called "milk fever."  The fetus needed calcium for strong bone development and always had the first call on calcium.  I was determined that I should have the required calcium and asked my husband for money for milk.  He said that he was buying beer and he did.  No money for milk began the deterioration of our marriage and the societal mantra that men were protectors was becoming questionable.  Perhaps it was just this man I hoped.  I just got a bad one, but what could you expect, a crippled woman who had never been overwhelmed with options in male companionship.