My Career as a Wage-slave Continued…

As I’ve already written about my years-long journey to ‘find myself’, I’ll stick to my maturing as a wage-slave, for what it’s worth. And yes, during all these times, I was also trying to jumpstart my hoped-for career as a musician, which sputtered for many years, finally igniting in the late ‘70s, and ending shortly thereafter.

For the next decade (‘67-’77), I worked in several different factory settings, including: the Ford plant in Lorain, Federal Mogul in Ann Arbor MI, and US Steel, back in Lorain (where I served my machinist apprenticeship). By that time, I was married to Lynn, and we soon had a couple of children, which I’ve also detailed elsewhere.

Then, in the ‘80s, I became fairly compliant, working the mandatory overtime that I hated, but with little complaint. But I was never fully compliant, I’d frequently be punished for skipping work or cutting out early to engage in other activities, such as the time I punched out at lunchtime and went to a two-hour lecture by Buckmister Fuller at Publix bookstore in downtown Cleveland.

I was working at Eaton’s Airflex Div. on the west side of Cleveland at the time, and they were not pleased with me, gave me another day off as punishment. Yes, losing the money hurt, but having the day off was always a plus for me, which I spent at the lakeshore watching the waves pound the rocks and beach, and lunch with my second wife in the small park next to her workplace.

At least once a month, I’d cut out at lunch to go have mine with her (I tried not to get into too much trouble, so only about once a month)… and was always threatened with ‘marks’ on my ‘permanent record’, along with being given another punishment day off. It’s no wonder they got rid of me when an opportunity presented itself, which I’ve already written about in another section.

To be Continued…

–LE