{"id":131,"date":"2012-06-13T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-13T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/guest-post-sheila-lagrand-the-unexpected-paycheck\/"},"modified":"2012-06-13T05:30:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-13T11:30:00","slug":"guest-post-sheila-lagrand-the-unexpected-paycheck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/guest-post-sheila-lagrand-the-unexpected-paycheck\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Sheila Lagrand, “The Unexpected Paycheck”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Our ongoing series of posts titled, \u201cWhat I\u00a0Learned from My First Job,\u201d\u00a0takes a turn toward Sheila Lagrand<\/strong> today. She blogs at <\/em>Godspotting <\/em><\/a>and is a regular visitor to this site. She has the ability to find great truth in the everyday, looking for God in all the right spaces. Visit her site here. It\u2019s not too late if you have an idea! Send me an email<\/a> today to reserve your spot.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Unexpected \u201cPaycheck\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was 11 the summer our Neighbor Lady asked me to help her out around her home. She was babysitting two grandchildren and wanted me to supervise the children while she was out attending meetings or going to the bank or whatever it is Neighbor Ladies do. Her husband, she said, would be around, but the children would be my responsibility. I was only to call on him in an emergency. <\/p>\n

When I was a kid, \u201cNeighbor Lady\u201d defined a real person. Everyone had one. <\/p>\n

Who gave you that apple? <\/p>\n

The Neighbor Lady. <\/p>\n

Whose dog is that you\u2019re walking? <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Neighbor Lady\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Nobody had a \u201cNeighbor Man.\u201d But I digress.<\/p>\n

She said the pay was fifty cents an hour. I reckoned this was a pretty good deal, as that was the going rate for full-on babysitting, so I accepted. <\/p>\n

The children, a small boy and a slightly bigger girl, were not troublesome children. They didn\u2019t ask for snacks. He liked to ride his Big Wheel in the driveway; she colored pictures of horses. Frankly, they were rather bland children, without mischief or spark, and therefore easy to supervise.<\/p>\n

The very first week, she called on me to watch the children for a total of seven hours. I was thrilled. The next week she needed me to supervise them for another five hours. In only two weeks\u2019 time, I had worked 12 hours, earning, by my reckoning, six dollars. Six dollars was enough money to buy Simon and Garfunkel\u2019s Bridge over Troubled Waters. <\/p>\n

(On vinyl. Go ask your grandmother about \u201crecord albums.\u201d) <\/i><\/p>\n

Everyone I knew had, or wanted, a copy of Bridge over Troubled Waters. This little summer job was going to make me Somebody. <\/p>\n

<\/a>But to become Somebody, I first needed to collect a paycheck. \u201cDon\u2019t be shy!\u201d my dad counseled. \u201cYou\u2019ve done the work, you\u2019ve earned the pay. Ask her when she plans to pay you.\u201d <\/p>\n

Midway through my third week of service, when I\u2019d worked another few hours, I meekly followed my dad\u2019s advice. \u201cI\u2019ll pay you on Friday,\u201d she promised. <\/p>\n

Thursday, as I was preparing to leave her home, Neighbor Lady said, \u201cI won\u2019t be needing your help tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d I said. I took a deep, deep breath. \u201cI\u2019ll just come by to collect my pay, then.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll bring it over tomorrow afternoon,\u201d she promised.<\/p>\n

Friday came and went. No Neighbor Lady came to our door. <\/p>\n

I asked my dad for his advice and saw a little twitch in his cheek. \u201cWell,\u201d he told me. \u201cShe owes it to you. You need to stand up for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t skilled at standing up for myself, but I didn\u2019t want to disappoint my dad. I didn\u2019t want to forego my pay, either. So on Saturday, I went to the Neighbor Lady\u2019s house and knocked on her door, strains of Simon and Garfunkel playing in my mind. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes?\u201d she said, her brow knitting itself in annoyance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to get my pay,\u201d I told her. <\/p>\n

\u201cI told you I would bring it to you!\u201d <\/p>\n

A voice said, \u201cYou said you\u2019d bring it yesterday.\u201d Startled, I realized the voice was mine. Something in her attitude stiffened my spine. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, for pity\u2019s sake! Just a minute,\u201d she snapped. <\/p>\n

I stood at the front door, embarrassed that I\u2019d been left waiting outside. I should have been patient. Maybe she was busy. She\u2019s an adult, after all. Adults don\u2019t lie\u2014<\/p>\n

Her return to the door interrupted my inner tirade. \u201cHere,\u201d she said. She thrust a bag through the screen at me. Reflexively, I took the bag. Before I could speak, the door had slammed.<\/p>\n

I opened the bag and looked inside. I found seven or eight small cardboard canisters, each elegantly decorated, each with a name: Occur! Rapture. Brocade. Unforgettable. Topaze. Here\u2019s my Heart.<\/p>\n

Neighbor Lady had \u201cpaid\u201d me, not in cash money, but in Avon perfumed talc. Too flummoxed by this development to react, I went home.<\/p>\n

The details of the aftermath are hazy, after all these years. I didn\u2019t work for Neighbor Lady any more. My mother and my auntie bought the perfumed talc from me, converting it into cash. Dad drove me to the record store, where I purchased the coveted record album. <\/p>\n

The Neighbor Lady taught me valuable lessons that summer of 1970. I learned that adults did lie to children sometimes. I learned that not everyone\u2019s word is reliable. I learned that it\u2019s okay to leave a job if your employer is unfair. And I learned that my mom and my auntie were really swell ladies. Okay\u2014I already knew that.<\/p>\n

What were you working for at your first job?<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\n
\nSo how about you? For the next couple of weeks I\u2019ll be highlighting voices from around the world, reflecting on what you learned at your first job. Send me a note\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and join in!\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to subscribe and not miss a single post. The Archive is\u00a0here.<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/span>\n
Contributors<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Amy Young<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Troy Sims<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n
Becky Garrison<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n
Marcus Goodyear<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our ongoing series of posts titled, \u201cWhat I\u00a0Learned from My First Job,\u201d\u00a0takes a turn toward Sheila Lagrand today. She blogs at Godspotting and is a regular visitor to this site. She has the ability to find great truth in the everyday, looking for God in all the right spaces. Visit her site here. It\u2019s not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[325,348,788,797,798,958],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-garfunkel","category-godspotting","category-sheila-lagrand","category-simon","category-simon-garfunkel","category-what-i-learned-from-my-first-job"],"yoast_head":"\nGuest Post: Sheila Lagrand, "The Unexpected Paycheck"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our ongoing series of posts titled, "What I\u00a0Learned from My First Job,"\u00a0takes a turn toward Sheila Lagrand today. 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