WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY VERY FIRST JOB

I got my first “real” job at the age of 17. I’d already worked on my family’s farm, so I had experience taking care of calves, milking cows, and baling hay, but I hardly counted that as a job — it was just life. At 17, I was between high school and college, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. So I called my aunt Lily in Napa, California, and asked, “Can I stay with you for the summer?” She said yes!

Given the beautiful location, you might assume my first job was working at vineyard, stomping grapes, rolling wine barrels, or waiting tables, but in truth it was a far more … unique experience. My aunt Lily ran a beauty parlor, and one of the ladies she styled recommended I apply at The Sawyer Tanning Company.

The Sawyer Tanning Company was founded in 1869. It had the distinction of making beautiful sheep and alpaca leather coats for some of the most expensive shops in the country, including Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. The work was far less glamorous than the finished product. My first job at the tannery was unloading hides by the truckload, trimming off the manure-spotted tail sections, and throwing the hides into giant vats to be chemically washed. The treatment left them clean and malleable. For the first two and a half weeks on the job, I couldn’t get the smell of sheep manure out of my skin!

The foreman, George, made the work bearable. He was funny but stern and spoke about seven different languages, including his native Romanian. He approved of my work, and before long, he promoted me to the team that took care of the hides after they were washed. I felt pretty good about that promotion until I found out I’d have to climb into the bottom of the 8-foot-deep vats. It was my job to pick up each saturated, 60-pound hide and hoist it over my head so that another guy on the team could grab it and pull it out of the vat. I did that for several weeks before George took pity on me and moved me on to the drying team. I spent a month hauling hides upstairs, hanging them on drying racks, and tossing them into giant tumblers. Tumbling the skins with sawdust made them loose and flexible, and got them ready for the team that buffed them to a supple, suede-like texture.

By the fall, I was assigned to the task of “rough sorting” the hides into four categories depending on their appearance. After my sort, George and another experienced tanner sorted them further, and then they went to the tailors to be sewn into the most beautiful leather coats I’ve ever seen. When I finally left Sawyer Tanning, George gave me a sheepskin and told me that I’d have a job waiting at the tannery any time I wanted it. Every time Kaye and I photographed our babies playing on the fur, it brought back interesting and somewhat fond memories.

Those eight months at Sawyer Tanning Company were the hardest work I’ve ever done in my life. Still, I’m glad I got the experience, because it taught me exactly what my body is capable of. Today, I’m not afraid of hard work. But my body doesn’t always keep up with my spirit. I still feel that I can walk down 34 flights of stairs twice in one day … and I do it in one building, every year. But I hurt (seriously) for 2 or 3 days afterwards.

Was your first job as unusual as mine? I’d love to hear about it and the lessons you learned. Fill me in next time you call to schedule a proactive indoor air quality survey for your building.