I Used to do That for a Living; Landing and Leaving 108 Jobs Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 | Page 25

I Used to do that for a Living

asserted his dignity, the less those who depended on him had. Less dignity, less security, less to
eat.
Jack said that he could always find work,
and, for the most part he was right. His periods
of unemployment were brief, precisely because
he was willing to work long hours for low pay.
And being a white man didn’t hurt. But there
were many things he would not do, and an even
greater number that he could not do.
Nor did Jack’s preparedness to do what another man might find distasteful indicate humility, for Jack was not humble. He insisted that he
had been called to preach, and that, in not asking
him to do so, the holy roller congregations with
whom we worshipped were openly defying God.
He changed churches even more often than he
changed jobs. And whither went he, so went we.
Seems God’s idea of a joke was calling Jack to
preach without calling a congregation to listen to
him. And support him and his family.
Aside from preaching, he maintained that he
was constitutionally incapable of working indoors
or under direct supervision. Jack’s fallback calling was to operate motor vehicles. Only driving,
taxi or truck, offered the autonomy he required.
In 1968 the minimum wage was $1.25. Jack’s
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