I come from a family of workers. I was told that my father hopped the train and made his way from Orangeburg, South Carolina to New York (with a few stops in between) at the age of 16 in search of a new life and work. I believe his first job was that of a short order cook. He always had a job. He landed a job with Erie Lackawanna Railroad in Hoboken, New Jersey, and worked there in various positions for over 30 years. It took him almost two hours to get to work from Brooklyn to New Jersey, having to take the subway and then the Staten Island ferry everyday to complete the trip. What was so remarkable about that is he was never late for work and he had perfect attendance! Likewise, my mother always worked as well. Early on she worked as a domestic. My earliest memory is being about 4 years old and getting up very early in the morning to go to work with my mother. Later on she got a job as an educational assistant and worked at that job until her death in 1984. Both my parents provided great examples of the importance of hard work and being on time.
Of all the milestones that children reach on their way to adulthood, their first job is high on the list of importance. It doesn’t even matter what the job is, it could be, delivering papers, bagging groceries, etc., what’s most important is the responsibility that comes with a job. Someone is counting on you to perform a certain function and how and when you complete it says a lot about you – it’s called integrity. I always taught them that how they completed a task says a lot more about them than about the task itself. That milestone happened for my son, Yamil, at age 15. It was the year that the Washington Redskins stadium was being built. My girlfriend called me up to find out if Yamil was interested in doing some work at the stadium. Him and his friend, would be construction helpers. Yamil was so excited about the whole idea; not that he wanted to work so much, but the prospect of getting money was definitely a motivating factor. Yamil is the child that likes “things”. So finally the day came when Yamil put on his “hard hat”, got his lunch box together and headed off to work. I was so proud of him that day. He got up super early, got ready and was eagerly awaiting his ride. Well I think his friend only lasted a couple of days but Yamil continued for at least a few weeks. Finally it came time to get paid. I didn’t realize that he would be working “off the books”. Had I’d known in advance, I would have never let him take the job. I believe in children knowing what the rules are and following them. My job as a parent is to teach them the right way to do things and that surely doesn’t include “working off the books”. I decided that he could no longer work there. In the meantime, the guy he was working for kept promising to pay him and time kept passing without him being paid. (That’s another reason why I don’t do stuff like that). People have gotten killed over broken promises when it comes to money. One thing I can say about my son is please, please, please, DON’T OWE HIM MONEY!!!!!! (In the words of rapper Jay-Z, “if you owe me 10 dollars, you ain’t giving me 9”*…That sums up how Yamil is with his money. He kept calling the guy about his pay check and either he wouldn’t answer the phone or he kept promising him a different date. I could tell by this time that this situation wasn’t going to end pretty. I was prepared to just pay him myself and cut my losses. It was really my fault for not checking things out thoroughly as is customary for me. I tend not to be so trusting (I\’m a true New Yorker). I explained to Yamil that when he’s working legitimately, one of the first things that happens is that the person who’s hiring you gets you to fill out paperwork. Well Yamil was not going to let it go. He found out the man’s address and asked me to take him over to his house. Once I got the address, I really didn’t want to go there. It was in a “not so good” neighborhood. However, I knew there was no way to get around it, I was going to have to take him. As we approached the housing complex I started getting really nervous. I was hoping that the guy would just meet us outside and give Yamil his check – but of course that didn’t happen. There was a lot of activity going on both outside and inside the complex. The hallway lighting was dim and the place generally was not very clean. It reminded me of the projects I grew up in. However, at least Building 454, where I grew up, was pretty clean. My father would mop and disinfect the hallway and the elevator every day (sometimes more than once if it needed it. He made sure that people wouldn’t hang out on the stoop or in the hallways. He even planted a little garden and some flowers right outside where the bushes were. He loved flowers and felt that just because we lived in the projects, didn’t mean we shouldn\’t keep the place clean. As the neighborhood changed for the worse, he was instrumental in instituting what I’ll call a “building watch” where neighbors would take turns sitting downstairs to police who would come in and out. But I digress……Once we got to the correct door I instinctively braced myself for what was to come next. Yamil knocked – we waited. I thought that there was a good chance that no one would answer the door or that the guy had given us the wrong address. We could hear loud voices coming from inside. Finally someone came to the door. Inside there were a bunch of people (mostly children). As it turned out, the loud noise we heard was mostly coming from the TV which was extremely loud. My guess is that the person who greeted us was the “lady of the house”. Yamil spoke right up and said he came for his paycheck that his boss promised him. At first she acted like she didn’t know anything about it, and then after disappearing for what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality it was only a few minutes, she came back with a check for Yamil. (Phew). I was never so relieved. I couldn’t wait to get out of there!!!!! I practically ran to the car. Yamil immediately starting scrutinizing the check and upon closer inspection, according to his calculations, the check was short of about 5 dollars. (I immediately thought – OH NO!! I’m NOT going back there). Of course he wanted to go back but I convinced him that we should just let it go. I promised to give him the difference. Back at home, safe, sound and with a paycheck for Yamil, I decided that retirement was in order for my son!! Lesson learned!!!
*taken from \”American Gangster\” by Jay-Z\”
5 Responses
GREAT story about the Milestones of getting paid…
😂😂😂 If i show up to work everyday and on time, i expect the same when it comes to me receiving my paycheck
One thing it sounds like you don’t tell Yamil something and not follow thru. I am sure he is a man with integrity and if he can’t do it he wont say it. He will follow thru and will make sure whomever does the same. Love this milestone. You did teach him something
It really amazes me how some adults really try to take advantage of our youth. Thank God for Yamil’s persistence.
Great story from the roots of preseverance to years later getting the job done with expectation of a pay day. I’m glad your son didn’t give up!