Part 6: A House in Glassboro
I had a hell of a hard time tracking this place down. I only lived in it for two months. I hadn't been to Glassboro in 30 years and the place has grown and changed.
I snapped this picture and didn't even take note of the street. But I only lived there for two months. I had a roommate and I don't remember his name. But, as usual, I was a crappy person to live with.
I lived their from June until August. In August I was fired from my job at Garden Lanes Bowling Center. Their just wasn't enough business to justify keeping me on. So as September loomed
I had no job and no place to live. Another tenant at the house, Sue Nesmith, was alarmed at my casual attitude. In those days I had a great deal of faith that something would turn up and
sure enough, something did.
I was drinking in the Main Street Pub and ran into a guy I knew, Frank Veasy. We started talking and when he learned I was jobless and soon to be homeless, he suggested I apply for the Teachers Registry in Sewell. You see, the Salem Job Service office had an out station in a trailer in Sewell. In September three people in the trailer would call up substitute teachers
for the various school districts. The problem was they only had two people and were having a hard time finding a third. The hours were from four in the morning until ten. So the next day I went to the Salem office, very self conscious. I didn't even own a tie. I was interviewed by Steve Caesar the office manager. He told me that he had already interviewed a lot of good candidates and then sent me to meet Sharon Blistan, who'd be my boss if I was hired.
So I went to the trailer and a woman in cut off jeans and a tee shirt opened the door. She said that the job had been open since June, I was the only one who applied and I was hired. Thus I got my first real job. Knowing I had a steady income made the prospect of homelessness a lot easier to bare. I knew I'd be getting my security deposit back from Parkcrest Village and with that I could get an apartment. I figured two months and I'd be set up.
You know, since we're all friends here, I wish I had some of the 23 year old Kevin's self assurance. No job, something will turn up. No Home, that will rectify itself in time. Understand, I wouldn't want to be him, but I admire a few things about him. William Gibson said of his younger self that he'd buy him a drink but he wouldn't lend him any money. I think that sums up my relationship to Kevin Meehan in 1979.