One of my many jobs while putting myself through school (Georgia State) and helping support my young family was working at the Atlanta bus station as a baggage handler. I liked the checking in of customer bags and loading them on the correct bus. But every so often I had to open unclaimed suitcases to see if I could find identifying information.
I found bus riders, at least at that time, to be a fairly unhygienic bunch. It was as if some folk decided to load a suitcase with their unwanted junk including unwashed clothes and leave it all behind as someone else's responsibility. Maybe they started afresh, which is more than I can say for their gifts to Atlanta Baggage Claim. It was this part of the job that prompted me to resign and get a job loading semi trailers.
It was strong good work. I remember coming home so tired and dirty (2 a.m.) that I would run a hot bath, fall asleep in it, and wake up to the stimulus of the cooling water.
Before long, I accepted a job driving a cookie truck and unloading its contents at various warehouse sites in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina. I kept attending college at night, steadily working toward an undergraduate degree in psychology. Loading up with info at night, unloading cookies during the day.
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