Lois at 18
I was 18 years old my first day on the job as a copy girl at Women’s Wear Daily. That meant I was a messenger. The date was September 9, 1966.That was one of the most exciting days of my life.
A few weeks earlier, I experienced one of the worst days when I was fired from a job I had at an insurance agency in Hempstead, Long Island. I was only there for a week when the manager fired me. I was clueless what the place was really all about, so maybe that was the reason for my dismissal. Or perhaps it was because I yakked too much to the girl next to me.
It didn’t matter. I was so upset I went straight to bed and cried my eyes out. My older brother, already in the work force and living on his own, came to see me. He stood at the side of my bed and said a few words that changed my life. “Go find a job that you can do better than anyone else.”
I wasn’t quite sure I knew what he meant, so I asked for clarification. He told me to find a job that I felt qualified to do and be the best at.
Strange how someone’s words can change your life. The possibility of finding a job with my name on it gave me so much hope that I bounced out of bed to search the “Help Wanted” ads in the New York Times, print edition. Ha,ha!
It didn’t take long for me to find my dream job as a messenger. I applied for the job, got an interview, and a man named Frank Tricarico hired me. I was a kid from Queens, lived in a predominately Jewish neighborhood, and my universe was probably a 15-square mile radius. I vividly remember walking into WWD’s city room for the first time on Fifth Avenue and 12th St, Greenwich Village. The room was filled with bohemians, ingenues, fashion-plates, suits, men that looked like women, women that looked like men, and kids that looked like me.
I knew instantly that I had found the one job I could do better than most. I picked up editorial copy from one reporter’s desk after a bell that beckoned me rang out and delivered it to the proof reader. If you think about it, I am still doing the same thing today. I am distributing copy from one person to another. Nowadays, I just click a spot on the screen that says “send.”
It has been quite a journey. Thank you SZS.
DigiDame 
Enjoyed your post today. Back in the 60’s many of us had similar beginnings in the job world. Don’t think it has changed much over the years for those who WANT to work. You have done well , Miss Lois!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Anne, as always your comments are so comforting and insightful.
Thank you
Straight out of college I got a job at Sears as a management trainee. When I was less than two months shy of graduating into management, I got caught up in a workforce reduction. Best thing that ever happened to me. Before the day was over buyers were calling me, horrified that I’d been caught up in the layoff, offering me jobs in their departments. I just laughed and asked them what I’d do if they were on vacation the next time someone decided to lay me off. The experience taught me how tenuous jobs could be and helped me to keep my professional life in perspective in the coming years
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I’ve been writing articles for 51 years, working for 52 straight; but before that there were summer jobs in high school and working in my Dad’s store since I was about 10. I got fired from my most enjoyable job, because “people around here think you’re crazy for writing as if home computers are actually going to happen.” A month later, as I recall, Commodore showed the PET at CES; later that year, Radio Shack’s TRS-80 and the Apple II were introduced. So maybe I wasn’t crazy after all.