I sent this as an email 4-years ago to two of my grandkids:
A 13-minute “Deep Dive Podcast;
The most important part is in the next-to-last paragraph.
I started thinking about the jobs I’ve had from age 5 to 75. I’d never written them down—until now.
Age 5
We moved into low-income apartments in Pineville, Louisiana.
I sold “perfume” door-to-door: I hollowed out acorns, filled them with my father’s Wildroot Cream Oil, put the tops back on, and sold them for 5 cents each. I sold around 20—until I ran out of hair oil.
This was my first paid job.
Also sold the Sunday paper for 25 cents and kept 5 cents.
Ages 6–8
Had a morning paper route.
On Wednesdays, sold Grit newspapers door-to-door—kind of like the USA Today of its time, full of photos.
Twelve apartment buildings full of people—many of them lonely, and happy to have someone to talk to.
Looking back, this was the beginning of my training to become a psychotherapist 35 years later.
Age 9
Moved to Albuquerque, NM.
We lived on Sandia Army Base.
Started mowing lawns.
Soon after, got another morning paper route.
Ages 9–11
Kept the paper route.
During the summers, sold ice cream from a bicycle cart from noon until sundown.
No helmet—those hadn’t been invented yet.
Age 12
Moved to Algiers, Louisiana.
Became a bag boy at a grocery store.
Worked six months at a drugstore as a soda jerk (ice cream, Cokes, hamburgers).
At 13, I got good at pool, snooker, and bowling between my legs—and made money betting on those skills.
Six months later, we moved again—to Delhi, Louisiana.
Age 15
Worked at the Sip ‘N Nip Drive-In Restaurant.
Fired after I invited a Black Army sergeant and his wife to eat inside. That same night, the KKK burned a cross in the parking lot.
Later that year, worked at Sharpe’s Dry Cleaners.
Fired again—for calling the Black women who worked there “ma’am.”
Years later, I found out Mr. Sharpe was a local KKK leader.
Also worked for Snyder’s Construction Company:
Installed and removed heavy wooden boards (24”x3”x12’) around oil rigs so trucks wouldn’t sink in the mud.
Chipped “dope” off gas pipelines with hammer and chisel so welders could make a bead to join the pipes.4
I had quit high school and was the only white guy on the crew, except the foreman.
Age 17
Joined the Army two days after my birthday.
Served as infantryman, legal clerk, personnel clerk, and air traffic controller.
At 17, passed the University of Maryland’s 2-year college equivalency exam.
At 18, got accepted into the Warrant Officer Helicopter Program, but chose ATC school instead.
I also gave payday loans to fellow enlisted men—$20 now, $25 later—at less than half the going interest.
Age 20
After a semester in college, I ran out of money.
Worked offshore on drilling rigs—cook’s helper and cleanup man.
Returned to college.
Worked as a counselor for the Louisiana Department of Corrections at a reform school in Monroe.
At 20, I became the youngest house parent (by 15 years) to oversee 30 boys.
Age 21
The GI Bill only paid $100/month for full-time students.
Became an ambulance driver and assistant funeral home director at Kilpatrick’s while attending college.
Age 22
Took a job with a construction company before I was scheduled to move to Amarillo for the FAA.
Fired after I shoved a foreman who kicked a Black ditch digger and after I reported the company to the Department of Labor for wage violations.
Three weeks later, I had to leave town early—someone placed a KKK business card in my mom’s locked mailbox with a note:
“The eyes of the KKK are on you Clinton Matheny.”
Moved to Amarillo. Started work as an FAA air traffic controller.
Also did part-time work at a law firm—land deed research for oil and gas mineral rights. Decided law wasn’t for me.
Ages 23–35
Held 10 different jobs in 6 FAA facilities.
Attended college full-time during much of that time.
Earned my private pilot’s license at 22.
Piloted for a hour the DC-9, T-33, T-37, T-38, and F-4.
Age 36
Quit the FAA.
Started Gulf Coast Calibration & Metrology – a repair and metrology lab.
Ages 38–45
Returned to the FAA.
Started my private therapy practice, “New Choices”.
Launched two other businesses and sold the lab.
Ages 46–47
Worked for New York Life.
Licensed to sell insurance, annuities, and mutual funds.
Simultaneously worked as a controller and therapist.
Ages 47–59
Worked solely for the FAA and as a psychotherapist.
Ages 59–63
Worked as a wildlife photographer.
Sold prints online.
Donated free digital files to the African Wildlife Foundation for their calendars.
Ages 64–75
Returned to part-time therapy.
In a way, back to what I started at age 6: listening.
Also began writing a self-help blog.
Age 76 and Beyond
Still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.
What Matters Most
When I get to the end of my life, I’m sure I won’t wish I had worked harder.
I’ll wish I had spent more time with my family.
“We get old too quick and we learn too slow.”
– An 85-year-old Cajun cook on an offshore rig, when I asked him for advice on life. I was 20.