Easy money

By John Murphy

So I was working four years ago in the Bay Area, where everyone has three jobs to afford their rent.

Then I left one job and began looking for a new one.

“Bagger at Safeway,” I thought. That could nicely augment my job as the sports guy at the Half Moon Bay Review where I was filling in for the ailing Mark Foyer.

So I tooled down Main Street in Half Moon Bay toward the big “S” and, long story short, got the job.

Five days or so later I reported for duty, shown around by a very pleasant woman, Graciela.

Well, maybe it was the thought of bagging groceries of peeps I knew, or perhaps it was the knowledge I also had to clean up barf and other such ickiness (“Cleanup on aisle 2”) that had me reconsidering.

The moment Graciela mentioned “solvents” my mind was made up. I paused a moment, swallowed hard and said, “Graciela, I don’t think I can do this. I’m really sorry, but … ”

That was my first union job and I got paid like $1.98 for my 15-minute stint. My girlfriend got quite the kick out of it.

Some time later I had made the curious decision to move from heaven on Earth (Half Moon Bay) to Hanford in the Central Valley, once home to Slim Pickens.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my mail in Hanford to learn someone was suing Safeway on behalf of the workers and I was entitled to make a claim. I did and — ta-da — yesterday received a check from Commerce West Bank in Irvine. Cha-ching!

It’s not a big check, but it’s something. And I don’t have to clean up any barf.