Bleeding Perseverance - Episode 30

Autobiography Fridays

CHAPTER 13

Life While In A Winter Wonder Land

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In the past our moves were either by used car or a Uhual, but this time Mom decided the best way would be by plane, which is something I really enjoyed. Not only was I amazed by the power of planes, along with loving the fact that they are the safest mode of transportation, but I am a doer, and doers don’t like to sit around for days when they can get something done in hours.

The brother and sister cats had ended up having a litter of their own. One was a little black one with a white underside. The reason he stood out was because he had a vertical black stripe right below his mouth that looked like a goatee. Chino thought this was cool and chose him as his own cat, calling him Holmes, because he looked like a Mexican gang banger.

We just had to take Holmes with us, along with a couple of his siblings, so they traveled in the pet section below the plane. I remember thinking how scared they must have been while in such a foreign environment.

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Although it was summer we thought Minneapolis wouldn’t be so bad given its location. Man were we wrong! The area was experiencing a heat wave that lasted for several weeks. Upon arriving we found a hotel to check into and Mom started searching newspapers and such for a place to live. After about a week, and with the help of a house hunting agency, we found our new home on Minnehaha Avenue, about a mile down the street from Minnehaha Falls.

It was a nice two-storey yellow house located right beside a small bike shop. The floor level consisted of a good-sized living room, dining room, kitchen and a bedroom near the stairs. Upstairs were two more bedrooms and a bathroom and downstairs in the basement was a nice one bedroom bachelor’s apartment. I was jealous that Chino ended up getting that space while I had to settle for the bedroom on the floor level. Mom and the kids took the upstairs.

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I was nearly seventeen and eager to find work so as to have some spending money. So ignoring the heat of the summer I hit the pavement looking for the closest McDonald’s, since I had some experience with the restaurant. Because Chino had worked at a grocery store in Inglewood he sought out his previous line of work as well. He ended up having better luck than me, as business after business threw away a great opportunity by passing me over. (Sounds arrogant, but I do end up proving myself with a strong work ethic)

I started getting desperate and turning in applications anywhere that I thought might hire me. A Burger King near Minnehaha Falls ended up being my place of employment, and so I started learning how to make Whoppers.

By the time the ‘91-’92 school year started I was not only a pro in the BK Kitchen, but I also convinced management to allow me to learn the front as well. Generally, fast food restaurants like to have the females in the front and the males in the kitchen, but being the versatile guy I was I wanted more and didn’t stop asking until I got it. After proving I was as good in the front as I was in the back, I was named a Floater, which is someone who can work any position in the restaurant.

My junior year of high school