I’m spending the summer working (for pay!) for the first
time in many years. It has been an exciting adventure so far.
I’ve been in Wall, South Dakota. It’s the home of a
well-known tourist trap called Wall Drug. The Hustead family purchased the
store back in 1931 during the depression. Eventually Mrs. Hustead decided to
try something to promote business by putting up signs along the highway
offering free ice water. The business boomed from there.
Today, there are a multitude of stores within the Wall
complex, as well as a playground for kids featuring an animated T-Rex. The
town, which has a population of around 800, gets well over 200 summer employees
at Wall Drug alone, not to mention others in surrounding stores and touristy places like motels. On a good day,
more than 20,000 people will visit Wall.
It’s located directly on I-90 next to one of the entrances
to the Badlands National Park. And if you are headed in a westbound direction,
it’s the first real civilization since Sioux Falls, almost 300 miles away. It’s
about an hour from Rapid City on its western side, and about another half hour
to Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park, which features and incredible wildlife loop featuring herds of Bison, wild burros, prairie dogs and other creatures.
Anyhow, back to working. Those who know me know I became
disabled about five years ago. I had a multitude of problems, including a lot
of injuries to my neck, back and hands. Also being way too fat, I wondered how
well I would handle working 40 hours a week again, especially while constantly standing. I had been working around 30
hours at state and national parks in Oregon and thought I was up to it. But I
was quite wrong. Thanks to support from my employers, I am far healthier,
happier and sharper than I’ve been in a long time.
Earlier this year, I had some problems with diabetes. With
so much sugar running through me – usually a reading up to 400 on my meter – my
brain wasn’t functioning very well. For example, I kept on losing things, like my dentures and my debit card. I went back on diabetic, blood pressure and
other meds in April after a rather upsetting episode. But there was a side
effect. Diarrhea. Lots of it. And as I continued to use it, I was having six or
more attacks per day. I was going home from work physically exhausted. And the
meds weren’t working. They were not in my system long enough.
I had to take several days off. I saw a doctor and he
changed my prescription. Within a day or so, the diarrhea was gone. Eventually
my sugars, and my weight, started coming down. My sugars are now normal and
I’ve lost about 15 lbs. And I no longer come home exhausted. Tired, yes, but
that’s expected. I can handle working. The management was very supportive, as I
had to take some days off. For this, I am grateful. While I don't think I can handle year-round employment, the summer months are enough for some financial supplement to Social Security and I can handle my finances.
Working is fun too. I work in the toy department and swear
in a lot of “deputies” when they purchase toy guns. I make them promise “by the
code of the west” not to shoot their siblings and never, ever use the guns in
the car. It’s a lot of fun and parents appreciate it.
I am also located next to “Dr. Feelgood,” an animated snake
oil salesman who tries to sell his tonic. As his sales spiel ends, I chime in
urging customers to “step right up” and purchase a bottle. "I can prove to you this stuff works," I tell them. "as you can clearly see, it cured my baldness." I am, of course, bald. When I started
working, the empty bottles with Dr. Feelgood’s label weren’t selling at all.
Now, I sell more than a case per week.
Behind me is the animated “Cowboy Quartet,” which sings a
couple of cowboy songs every fifteen minutes or so. People ask me how I put up
with it each day and actually I like them as they remind me of the cowboy songs
of my youth when I was crazy about Gene, Hoppy, and Roy. “Happy Trails,” “Ghost
Riders In the Sky” and other songs from that era provide a feeling of
continuity as I approach my final years.
Many of the toys are the type that was in fashion more than
50 years ago. They bring great joy to old timers like myself who purchase them
for their grandchildren. And that too, makes me feel pretty good as I help them
with their purchases. There are popguns nearby and sometimes children will use
them to a point of annoyance. But I realize they are kids having fun and then
relax. I sometimes have to control rowdy teens with them, but that is not a
real problem.
The unofficial mascot of the town is the “jackalope,” the
completely tongue-in-cheek legendary combination of a jackrabbit and antelope.
When I sell stuffed ones, I tell the kids and their parents that while
jackalopes are very shy and quiet animals, they need to be offered food once a
year, on every April 1. "You do not want to deal with an unhappy jackalope," I tell them.
In other words, I’m allowing myself to have fun. It’s a good
thing.
Because I am working a cash register, my mind is constantly
challenged by the mathematics of making change. With the return to normal of
the blood sugars, I feel a sharpness that I haven’t felt in years. It is easier
to deal with problems and figuring out solutions, though I’ve yet to figure out
my next destination when the summer ends.
Any suggestions?
