People would ask me "how long do you plan on staying at bethel" I would say "forever!.....or 4 years which ever comes first"
Besides the about 48 hours you worked there a week, you would have other duties too. There was dish duties. Since the waiters worked about from about 6 in the morning to about 4 in the afternoon, they needed someone to do the supper dishes. About once a month the bethel family got that privilege........Funny thing is you NEVER saw the heavies go them. They we fun especially in the summer time. The worst job was working the dish washing machine "HOT END" there was 2 brothers loading the front end and 2 guys taking the 140 degree dishes off the back end (your hands were on fire).That is were I first meet Dave Borga. He was the waiter that was in charge that night...........He put me on the HOT END......by myself.....he just set up on a counter laughing.......It was like that "I LOVE LUCY" show were she is in the factory with a conveyor belt...........any way that was the last dish duty for me.
Then you had the watchmen duties.........Once every 2-3 years in the home. It was an all night duty and started about 9 p.m.The Watchman would get a day off.......you would fill in. IT was very creepy. It was dark and you had to walk through all 3 buildings 119, 117 and 124 (not the 129) Three times and punch the time clock you had with you. At about 3:00 a.m in this dark basement of the 124 all of a sudden this guy jumps in front of me and SCREAMS..............I thought I died. It was guess who?....It was Peter R......the real night watchmen, he said "he couldn't sleep.......and wanted to have some FUN with me"! what a JERK..............about 2 years later, he was asked to leave bethel........It seemed he liked to sneek into the sisters bathrooms in the 117 building and lock the toilet door..........and do some free PEEPING. I guess all those long nights by himself........got to him. He is and Elder in Salem Oregon now.
There was another guy, while I was there, who could beat that one.............He would sneek into MARRIED couples rooms (in the middle of the night) and lay on the floor next to the wife ....and copped a feel..............Now you know why Knorr hated belelities.
Any way we got side tracked.......back to dish duties. Why do a dish duty?...........When you could get somone else to do them for you. So we would trade them or sell them..........There was this ONE guy Allen Richards who would do your 2 hour dish duty for .89 cents, that was the price a 1/2 gallon of "Canadian Ace" beer.........the worst beer ever made.I bet him felt great the next day! So if you could get some poor schmuck to do it for .89 cents and you could get some side job for $1.75 and hour...................do the math!
Which brings us to the next subject......"G" jobs. NO ONE really knows were the name came from.......But it is, any job you did to make more money....outside of the 22 dallors a month bethel gave you.........They were many different types. Some guys in the press room ran "the paper route" started at 3:00 a.m on sunday mornings............I did it once......not for me........Some guys did cartering jobs at weddings, great tips plus you could keep all the half drunk wine bottles, when it was over. There was a waiting list, to work there. Some guys painted apartments........My friend Jim Pipkorn.....worked a funeral home in "the village"...........The stories I could tell you about that place, that would be a whole 2 page thread in it self. Dave Borga, Jim Pipkorn's room mate was the King of all "G jobers".....They still talk about him to this day in the "new boy talks"..............He had a FULL TIME job working the night shift at toy factory in Jersey.................thats right almost 90 hours a week of work!......Need less to say he did last long, at that pace.
I worked washing pots and pans in and high end restaurant 3 blocks from bethel in "the Heights"....To this day, I will not order turkey and dressing in a restaurant........They would serve these little loafs of bread in there.......and people would eat half of them.....they would put out their cigaretts butts IN them......the waiters would bring them back to the kitchen and throw them in a box, on the floor, next week it was?.......................wll you guessed it!
I also so worked in two liqueur stores one in "Inwood" and one in "The Heights" ........Hay $1.75 an hour GOOD money. I was making .08 cents an hour, working for Jehovah........I guess Jehovah doesn't believe in minimum wage.........the extra 10-20 bucks a week made a BIG difference, in ones comfort there........Once or twice a week, you could get a "Hero and a Quart" down at Pioneer deli (that was the name of the place, believe it or not)...............If you were really rolling, you would buy a chuck steak and frozen french fries and cook it up inyour room, on your electric skillet.....THAT MY FRIEND WAS LIVING!.
One day at lunch on Doc Dixon's table the whole upper dinning room was pretty quiet. One table was really loud, it was the tour table............he keep looking over and giving them a look like "how dare they disturb my eating......I said "you tell they are NOT bethelities".....he knew what I meant.......and said "I think you have a bad additude about bethel"............I said "I have a bad additude about New York City" He said "Are you kidding..........look at all the great things you can do here, you have the plays.......and fine dinning!"................I said " Brother Dixon............I don't know your New York City........Our New York City is a hero and a quart of beer once a week...............if we are lucky."
I knew a guy who who was mugged in New York.......The guy put a gun to his head and said "give me your money or I'm going to blow your BRAINS out"!........The man said " YOU better shoot........because I know one thing.............you can live in New York with out brains....but you GOT to have MONEY"!
P.S.......that is the only story, I have told that is NOT true.