In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
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In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
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Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#2>"The black lungs of heavy smokers I would weigh once, then squeeze under cold running water for fifteen minutes until they became baby pink and tripelike, and then weigh again: the difference in the two figures, often a couple of pounds or more, was the weight of the tar and nicotine that quite possibly was the killer."
A few pounds? If you'd asked me, I would have guessed the weight of lung-accumulated smoking gunk would be an order of magnitude smaller.
(Also, not a bad hack for measuring some of the effects of smoking.)
>It wasn't only smoking that lacquered up one's innards with tar. Living in the London of the day was none too healthy, either.
Hmmm. Wonder how long I should continue to live in LA?
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#3>"The black lungs of heavy smokers I would weigh once, then squeeze under cold running water for fifteen minutes until they became baby pink and tripelike, and then weigh again: the difference in the two figures, often a couple of pounds or more, was the weight of the tar and nicotine that quite possibly was the killer." A few pounds ? If you'd asked me, I would have guessed the weight of lung-accumulated smoking gun…
Modern LA is orders of magnitude safer than London in the '60s and earlier. Those conditions would have been comparable to some parts of China today.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#4The worst job I've had was called 'putting up hay'. It amounted to climbing into the loft of a very dust-laden barn with 3 or 4 of my college buddies, catching hay bales as they spat out of the hay elevator, and running them over to stack in uniform 3-d arrays. After a couple of hours, our employer called us down for rejuvenation with Coke-a-cola and glazed donuts, and we'd blow what seemed like pounds of dusty mucous out of our noses and then head back up into the loft.
$5/hour seemed like a lot of money at the time...
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#5>"The black lungs of heavy smokers I would weigh once, then squeeze under cold running water for fifteen minutes until they became baby pink and tripelike, and then weigh again: the difference in the two figures, often a couple of pounds or more, was the weight of the tar and nicotine that quite possibly was the killer." A few pounds ? If you'd asked me, I would have guessed the weight of lung-accumulated smoking gun…
Modern LA is orders of magnitude safer than London in the '60s and earlier. Those conditions would have been comparable to some parts of China today.
"I can't trust air I can't see", was my favorite line of my grandfathers, who lived in LA for the past 60 years. He always mentioned how incredibly clear and clean the air is now compared to a few decades ago (where I live in Northern California now, even the Bay Area seems polluted and smoggy most days).
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#6The worst job I've had was called 'putting up hay'. It amounted to climbing into the loft of a very dust-laden barn with 3 or 4 of my college buddies, catching hay bales as they spat out of the hay elevator, and running them over to stack in uniform 3-d arrays. After a couple of hours, our employer called us down for rejuvenation with Coke-a-cola and glazed donuts, and we'd blow what seemed like pounds of dusty mucou…
Hah, I got the same pay for that, but didn't hate the job so much. We got beer after, so that may be why.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#7>"The black lungs of heavy smokers I would weigh once, then squeeze under cold running water for fifteen minutes until they became baby pink and tripelike, and then weigh again: the difference in the two figures, often a couple of pounds or more, was the weight of the tar and nicotine that quite possibly was the killer." A few pounds ? If you'd asked me, I would have guessed the weight of lung-accumulated smoking gun…
Modern LA is orders of magnitude safer than London in the '60s and earlier. Those conditions would have been comparable to some parts of China today.
Hmmm. Wonder how long I should continue to live in Beijing?
:( (today is a clean air day, but my wife and I had this argument already once this week)
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#8Its stories like this why I come to HN. HN may have started as interesting stuff for the Silicon Valley VC circuit, but you can't survive on a diet of just high risk investing weirdness.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#9This takes me back to a time when I was 17, and I applied for a job at a funeral home in London- it was offering a ridiculously high salary. It was my first time having an interview where one person sits off to the side and watches you, which I found quite unnerving. I was woefully unprepared for the interview, but it was going really well until the one question I hadn't thought about came up:
"So how do you feel about bodies?"
Me: "Umm, they're great! I mean, ahhh, well, um, could you define what exactly you mean by bodies?"
I didn't get the position.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#10The worst job I've had was called 'putting up hay'. It amounted to climbing into the loft of a very dust-laden barn with 3 or 4 of my college buddies, catching hay bales as they spat out of the hay elevator, and running them over to stack in uniform 3-d arrays. After a couple of hours, our employer called us down for rejuvenation with Coke-a-cola and glazed donuts, and we'd blow what seemed like pounds of dusty mucou…
Reminds me of tagging along with my older brothers to mow lawns. After a few hours of weeding and taking my turn at the push mower they would take me to get a Slurpee. My own Slurpee that I didn't have to share!
Later in high school doing construction work for my dad digging ditches with a pick and shovel, he would walk by and casually ask if I was feeling motivated to do well in school.