Editorials by Forrest Fenn

Early Lessons
West Yellowstone News
story #2
by Forrest Fenn

In the summer of 1942, when I was twelve, I found myself selling newspapers on the streets of West Yellowstone: The Montana Standard and the Billings Gazette. That was many years before any streets were paved and the deep potholes on Canyon were often filled with water and fair game for every car that sped by. I think they competed to see which could splash water the furthest.

Anyway, the good news was that I made a penny for each paper I sold. The bag my eighty pound body had to carry was so heavy I struggled with every step. One morning I sat down to rest on the curb in front of Scaggs Grocery Store and my boss happened to drive by. He rolled the window down and yelled, “You’re canned.” That’s all! Of course I didn’t know what that meant but guessed it must be something good because I was so proud of my job. When my mother told me I had been fired I was devastated.

No matter. I soon got the dream job of being the only dishwasher at the Totem Café. Well, that meant getting up at 0430 to be on the job at 0500, and sixteen hours later my shift ended and I was eight bucks richer. Each dish and pan had to be washed by hand, dipped in scalding water and dried by hand. Whew! My hands turned white and had deep canyons in them.

A wonderful old lady, Miss Mary, was my co-worker. She made cherry and apple pies, and they smelled sooo good. One day, during the lull between breakfast and lunch, I apprehended one of her pies, tip-toed it out back behind a tree and ate the whole thing. When Old Fred, the boss, caught me, there was a severe scene. Miss Mary said she gave me the pie, but no one believed her, and I was fired for “stealing.” While I was drying my eyes the cook reminded Old Fred that there was no one to wash the dishes, so he quickly capitulated and rehired me. It felt so good to be needed. I won’t mention anything more about that pie thing except to say that the precedent had been set. Ha! I grew to love that old Miss Mary.

Forrest Fenn

ffenn@earthlink.net