"One Moment ...Please!"

This was The Essex and Sussex Hotel as it stood in its glory in the summer of 1970. It faced the Ocean, and had quite the excellent reputation with the rich....and most likely the famous, too. My BFF had a job there as the night switchboard operator, and when she worked 11-7 , it put her internal clock on a different schedule. She did not get a day off, and so somehow it was arranged that I would sub for her once a week. I also worked at the Italian Restaurant from the summer before and I figured...how many calls are there really between 11 PM and 7AM? And how hard could it be? Picture Lily Tomlin at the switchboard back in The LaughIn TV Days when she'd say, "One ringy-dingy...snort,snort...two ringy-dingies...
I must share that the switchboard intrigued me, and I would hope for an occasional call to process. Well, my opportunity did arrive...but

I cannot print the exact words of the chef that I woke up at 4 AM by mistake...suffice it to say that he was not a happy camper...cooker!!

And I did not make that mistake again!

Other than that negative memory, the positive one would be standing at the top of the stairs between the middle columns, watching the sunrise up on the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean. It was quiet...no one was awake but me and the chef!! Haha!
That summer of 1970, six of us lived at the shore for the season, and on the weekends some of our sorority sisters would join us. What a memorable summer for all. Did I mention that there was a similar house rental two doors away that was a bunch of fraternity guys?

Oh to be 21 and know what we know now.

I love the sights, the sounds, and the smell of ocean air.

Summer Reflections

A couple of years [ OK...decades] ago, when I was in my twenties, summer had a whole different aura to it. In the 'June through August' days between college years, friends and I would rent a house at the [Jersey] shore for the summer where we got jobs and explored assorted adventures.

For the first summer, I landed a waitress job at a family owned Italian Restaurant and boarding house [also doing some chambermaid work, too] . I had no previous experience in these two endeavors, but I knew it was not 'rocket science'. Consequently, some interesting memories come to mind.

At the restaurant, I quickly got the program and was the cause of only one unfortunate experience. I had a round bar tray with six tall ice waters, and learned that it really does matter which glass you take off first. Turns out it was a balancing act as to how they were to be handed out strategically one at a time. I didn't choose correctly, and so...the girl who was the recipient of the cascading ice water bath left to get dry clothes and returned to receive her meal 'compliments of the house'!! Geez...that was embarrassing. There was some laughter shared just as soon as I was able to breathe again.

The other memory involved a kitchen event that was scary to say the least. There was a packed restaurant of customers waiting for their dinners when an accident occurred that stopped everything. The owner had a large pot of boiling spaghetti water in her hands, and as she turned to go to the sink, somehow the pot slipped out of her hands and hit the floor. Once determined that all people in the kitchen were okay, we were instructed to go out and tell the customers there would be a slight delay but we weren't to go into detail. Again, I did this just as soon as I could breathe and speak at the same time.

And most historically speaking, I remember all of us crowded around the television as the astronauts landed on the moon. It was truly awe inspiring, and not to be taken lightly back then. What a moment in time!!

And there you have it...the first summer at the shore. Well, I did leave out a couple of details and highlights that deserve to stay a part of history. Did I mention that the other waitress at the Italian Restaurant was a skinny blond-haired, blue-eyed swimsuit model?? God's sense of humor for me. Whatever!!