Elsewhere in this book I described the fine public education
I received in my hometown, Schenectady, New York. Although I
was not at the head of my high school class by any stretch of
an imagination, I did reasonably well. And there was a reason
I didn't better. I was, and still am, what is known as a "total
immersion" student. When I need to learn something, I dive
in and become totally immersed in that subject. I have a good
antidote to illustrate this.
When I started in high school, it was mid-1940. Residences did
not have the electrical wiring of today. Most bedrooms had one
light on the wall by the bedroom door and one electrical outlet.
The light was turned on by pulling a cord attached to it. The
electrical outlet might have been part of the light fixture.
Other rooms like the kitchen and living room generally had one
overhead light, and a few more electrical outlets. Those overhead
lights had wall switches with two buttons that one pushed. The
top button turned the light on, while the bottom turned the light
off.
Our family was always improving our home, a spirit carried to
America by most immigrants who they were. My mother and father
trusted my intuitive talents in many ways so I became an in-house
remodeler. I painted, hung wallpaper, and fixed sagging garage
doors, most anything my parents asked me to do. There was a lot
of ironing of clothes in those days, and it bothered my mother
that she didn't have an easy place to connect the iron, so she
asked me if I knew how to add an electrical outlet. I told my
mother I didn't know how but I would learn how to do it. So,
I registered at night school at our city trade school. Now, remember,
I'm in high school at that time.
One day in class the teacher came to me and said that the Principal
wanted to see me in his office. I couldn't for the life of me
understand why. My conduct at school was always very good. At
the Principal's office, Mr. Spain, our Principal sat me down
and started with something like this. "Simeo, several of
your teachers have noticed that your classroom work has been
sliding. And now I find after looking into your situation that
you are going to night school. Why?" My explanation didn't
go over well. I was forced to quit night school, and for a number
of days I had to come to school early and do my homework in the
Principal's office each morning before school started.
The end of that episode is that I still had learned enough at
night school to modernize our home electrically. So much so,
that my father loaned me out at least three times that I can
remember to other relatives to add a receptacle or two.
When I graduated from high school there was no college for me
to attend given the circumstances of my family. My grades were
sufficient that I could have gone to a state teachers school
in Albany, but nothing there attracted me. So, I went to work
for the General Electric Company (GE), a very large at the time
manufacturer in Schenectady. My assigned job was Laboratory Assistant
in the Wire and cable Division. Actually it was a very good starting
position that could lead to higher positions. GE also trained
their employees well with higher education opportunities.
The Wire and Cable Division made the wire cabling one sees strung
across the landscape to bring electricity from electrical generating
plants to consumers. The purpose of the division's laboratory
is to be certain that the raw products used to manufacture its
products met the purchasing department's standards, and also,
to certify that the finished product was completed as designed.
It was a very interesting job. I liked it and I got along real
well with my fellow workers in the laboratory which numbered
only seven including me.
So, why did I join the Army Air Force? Three reasons; patriotism,
education, and unionism.
World War II enlistment or the drafting of me for military service
missed me by about two years. However, afterward WWII there was
a strong need for the branches of the service to be replenished.
Almost every able bodied man of my time felt a responsibility
to serve the country in some way. After high school I became
a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve. It was then that I found that
if I enlisted as a full-time military member I would be eligible
for the G.I. Bill of Rights, thus permitting me to add to my
education at the expense of the Government. Sounded great, but
I couldn't make up my mind just then. That is until a union at
GE helped me make it.
I shared a laboratory room and my desk was by a window. GE, back
then, had a street that went through the middle of the very large
plant in acreage and number of buildings. The window in my laboratory
room looked out on the street. It was an interesting view. One
day, and I don't know for the life of me why, I got upset that
the window of my room was always dirty. So, I cleaned it.
Similar to being called to my high school Principal's office,
one day my boss called me in and sheepishly notified me that
a union complaint had been lodged against the laboratory because
I "cleaned my window." You see, there was a union at
that plant that washed windows! No-one had the right to clean
windows but the union. Insane.
That did it! I joined the Army air Force. |