Ocean City In The Fall, 2008

The first time I came to live in Ocean City, Maryland, it was May 1972.

I stayed for four seasons on the Boardwalk, and three winters. At the end of the 1975 season, after inventory was finished, I moved on.

I return to Ocean City 33 years later, in October 2008.

In 1972, I was young and needed to work. I did work, seven days a week on the boardwalk. Four summers, May 1 to Sept. 30, 150 straight days, (and five days a week in the winters). No matter how long or hard I worked, there were always others working longer or harder. (Later on, some clever consultant conceived the chimera that everyone should “work smarter, not harder.”)

The Ocean City boardwalk may seem an unlikely place to learn lessons of value. Not true. I worked for people who had lived and worked through the Great Depression, World War II, and many seasons in the five & dime business. They shared their wisdom freely by word and example.

In 2008, I feel old and need a rest. I’m not finished working, but I’m done with seven-days-a-week. I look forward to work in the Spring of 2009 with curiosity and anticipation.

Ocean City. May and October, Spring and Fall. Sometimes life surprises us with pleasing symmetry. October, BTW, is one of the fairest months of all at the beach.