My first boss
My first boss was a guy named Dick. I can’t remember his last name. He was the manager at Bradlees Warehouse in South Boston. Bradlees is a bargain clothing store like Kmart. I don’t know if it still exists. This was my first summer job after graduating high school in 1963. I had to get up at 5 AM to get to the warehouse by 7 am. I had to commute via subway (green line to red line) from Brookline to South Boston. The job entailed being handed packets of tags that had to be attached to clothes — endless aisles of cheap dresses, suits, coats and the like. The warehouse was not air conditioned and we sweltered in 100 degree heat. Dick (and he was a dick) used to patrol the aisles carrying a rifle on his shoulder and wearing a menacing grin. A real a-hole. I stayed late my first day on the job and couldn’t find an exit. So, being gymnastically inclined, I climbed over a 10 foot wire fence and proceeded to the subway stop. A few minutes later, a paddy wagon stopped in front of me. Two military naval guys came to me and frog marched me to the paddy wagon. The warehouse was right next to the Navy Yard in South Boston. I had a buzz cut. Someone saw me jump the gate and thought I was a sailor going AWOL. I finally got relased a couple of hours later. This would be the first of a few harrowing first days on the job that were to come later on in my life. And did I mention, Dick was an a-hole.
