My first Job. . Baskin Robbins

When I was 14 I had to get a job. If you wanted cool clothes, shampoo other then Prell. . you had to work for it so I got a job at Baskin Robbins on Fordham Road and Jerome Ave in the Bronx. . that was around 1977/78. It was kind of a rough area. Anyway it paid $2.35 an hour and I went religiously after school which was a few blocks down (St. Nicholas of Tolentine H.S).

The owner, Marc, would come in and gives us tutorials on how big a ice cream scoop should be. He would make us scoop and weight it. His idea of a perfect scoop was about the size of a golf ball, which in my neighborhood would get you killed if you tried to serve someone that so. . .we over scooped.

I had a sawed off shot gun held to my head and all kinds of crazy stuff happen but I had Lay-a-Ways I had to deal with so I needed this job. Now a Lay-a-Way was when you put money down on something you liked and you had time to pay it off. I had about 10 going on at once on Fordham. There was the black suede fringe jacket (which I think Isabel Marant has going on this season) I had the diagonal zipped jumpsuit, the purple pleather pumps. . .I love clothes so I had to work.

Anyway one particular incident that sticks out in my mind ( that db said I should blog it) was the summer of 1978. . Now let me tell you EVERYONE loved ice cream on 90 degree days. So naturally we had a line out the door and me and my seriously funny co worker Sean were the only ones working. Sean gave this woman her ice cream sundae and all I heard was "this is not Banilla" and Sean saying you said Banana and she is screaming I said "Banilla" and it's just going off. So she takes the Sundae and throws it at him, he ducks and it hits me in the back of the head.  So I'm in the mist of making my Sundae filled with Marshmellow goo and carmel and without thinking I reacted and  threw it right at her. Anyway this insane riot breaks out where people are just picking up stuff that is not nailed down and throwing it, fights start, someone tries to throw the garbage cans threw the front window, I'm throwing those disgusting maraschino cherries at peoples heads, Sean is grabbing knives behind the counter to protect us and then it happens. Out of the corner of my eye I see  around 3 or 4 cops pulling up on horses like something out of a movie. I've never seen a cop on a horse in the bronx. Anyway they break it up  and tell me to get the hell out of there in fear of my safety. So I call my boyfriend and him and his "crew" come and get me and off I go.

Next day my shift started at 3 and I showed up like nothing happened. I had Lay-a-Ways I had to deal with. .