I was working full time at the restaurant now. I moved into a little one bedroom apartment with my friend Carrie. The apartment was a remodeled garage behind a two story hundred year old Blockhouse Inn on Front Street in Coupeville. We paid $50.00 a month rent plus electricity and phone. Remember now, this is 1967, wages were $1.25 an hour. For a 30 hour week I would take home about $55.00 every two weeks, plus tips. I made about $5.00 & 8.00 a night in tips, so I brought home about $250.00 a month. I bought an old car, a 1949 Nash Rambler convertible for $150.00!! So now we had our own place to live, wheels to get to the dances in Oak Harbor 10 miles away, and we were young and life was gooooood!!
We were the talk of the town! Girls did not live on their own in Coupeville in 1967. That means trouble, for sure!! Let me go back 6 months….I cleaned a house for an elderly lady after school for about 6 months. She was a sweet little old lady. Her name was Ida Mae Sill. Her father was the first white baby born on the Island. His last name was Alexander. They have an old blockhouse named after him here in the town. A blockhouse is a log structure about 12’x12’ and two story. It has little square holes in the sides for guns to poke through in case of Indian attacks. The Indians on the Island were friendly but the ones from Vancouver Island were the renegades. Anyway, Mrs. Sill was a friend of mine and was thrilled that I moved in next door to her!! Her house was one up from the Inn. The Blockhouse structure was next door to the Inn. Her thrill didn’t last long at all. I was too busy to visit with her, as I worked until 9:00, went to the dances, came home around 3:00 or 4:00 am, slept until noon and went to work. This was a daily routine! I didn’t have time for my sweet friend. Dang, I feel bad about that now.
The guy from Texas I dated was too busy getting drunk in the bars (he was 21) and chasing other women, so we kinda split our ways. In other words, he quit calling me. He was sent to Viet Nam in November. I never heard from him until he was ready to come home two years later.
We had a Christmas party for work, and we all exchanged gifts. Barry, the guy that worked on the farm was invited which thrilled Carrie and I. I drank a lot at the party and was sooo sick the next day! Everyone thought it was cute. Barry laughed at me when I was drunk. Well okay, everyone laughed at me when I got drunk! I was sick for about three days after that party so I went to the doctor. He said I had an allergic reaction to the alcohol I drank. I asked if that meant I couldn’t ever drink again, and he said “no, but you will have bad hangovers if you drink too much”. Oh, okay!! So for twenty years I had bad hangovers. I almost wish he would’ve told me “no, you cannot drink again”. But then I wouldn’t be writing this drunk-a-log now would I?!!
Work…dance…PARTY!! We met a bunch of guys at the club that played guitars, and they would bring their guitars over to the house and drink beer and wine and play music.
Carrie and I worked different hours, and sometimes I would come home to a party going on. There was never a shortage of men on the Island.
Helen put me on the morning shift at the restaurant. I hated mornings!! I would sleep in and Helen would call me to get to work, and I was in deep trouble. Once she didn’t call me, and I was replaced by another gal. I was called the next morning and she told me she would give me another chance. I was fine as long as I worked the evening shift, but she would put me on mornings again, and then fire me for sleeping in, then hire me back!! Geeze, she should know that I stayed up all night drinking and partying, how the heck could I show up for work at 7:00am??? Nobody liked the change that was happening to me. I was hanging out with sailors at my house at all hours. The busy bodies just knew we were having sex orgies there. My mom was a drunk, and so I will end up just like her so they said!! Barry would get disgusted with us for hanging with the sailors and getting drunk. The more people talked the more I partied!! I was getting disgusted with this town any way!! What the heck do they know?
Carrie got pregnant and married her boyfriend, so I was living alone at the place now. I started going to the clubs again and met new friends, and new parties. It just wasn’t the same though, all my friends I hung around with were all married now and had babies!! And the cheese stands alone………More tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment