Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do (1972) Dolores Dante, waitress Tom Patrick, fireman

Dolores Dante introduces herself as a waitress in a very interesting way. she says, "Everyone says all waitresses have broken homes. What they don't realize is when people have broken homes they need to make money fast, and do this work. They don't have broken homes because they're waitresses." Dolores acknowledges the stereotype against waitresses, and throughout the interview it is easy to see how frustrated she gets from it. She was a woman that needed to make a living for herself, and she needed fast cash. Waitress's  was a good job for her because she was able to have conversations with people, sometimes be friendly, and make a decent tip. Although, she tells stories of times when she gets into arguments with costumers, and stories of her being the waitress that everyone wanted. She showed me that in the 70's there was a need for money and you would do what would get you the most money because Dolores would what she could to get a bigger tip or to get the costumer to buy more food.
Tom Patrick talked about his experiences being a cop and a fireman. In the 70's he had to withstand many riots and protests run by anger citizens about a variety of subjects. He talked about how no matter how small the offense was, he had to make sure wouldn't do it again and sometimes go to extremes and lock them up in a cell for a little bit. He had to do this to make people follow by the rules because many people at that time had strong beliefs, such as speaking out against the war in riots, and it was Tom's job to stop these people from breaking out. Tom's interview taught me that if i'm ever to speak out about a subject, i better do it in a good manner or the authorities will get me.

Phil Stallings & Eric Nesterenko

In Eric’s interview, he talked extensively about his childhood in Canada playing hockey and how he grew up with hockey and eventually played professional hockey. The way he described hockey seemed very similar to warfare. When a hockey player (soldier) would get hurt, other players (friendly soldiers) would forget about him and not care. Younger players would go for bigger hits and pick fights for the fun and the thrill, just like how a young man at war would go to the front line to fight because he is anxious. But an veteran hockey player would be smart and hold back from a fight to protect himself so that he could keep playing, just like how an older man in war would use tactics so that he would be able to fight longer and stay alive. He also talked about how it was important to win because it’s what got him paid, and it made the fans happy because it gave them a “win” in their mind. The fans were very important to the players. The fans could impact how they played. If the fans were cheering they would play better, if the fans don’t like the player then they would be scared and nervous for their career.

Phil talks about his work in the assembly plant for Ford in Chicago. His hours are long and his work is long, constant, hard, and dangerous. Phil emphasizes the danger in his job and how if you’re not paying attention, you can get hurt. Phil’s story connects to Eric’s story because Phil’s “fan that doesn’t like him” is the head of his line. He describes how if he doesn’t like you, then you can’t get a break of any kind and you would have to keep working. Phil’s interview ends with him talking about when everyone stopped working, there was no threat to lose him job. For Eric, there would be no threat of fans no liking him if there were no players at all.

Entry 6 - Peter Ota & Betty Hutchison

For Peter Ota, being a young Japanese man in the early 1940’s was extremely difficult. His dad was sent to prison and the rest of his family (sister and mother) were sent to concentration camps for the Japanese people. Through Peter’s story and experience, he talks about moving from camp to camp and finding new jobs. At no point did he seem overly emotional, but he did seem to give off anger. But, to me this anger is extremely called for. He was forced out of his regular life because of a war, and then he was forced to register to fight for the war that was ruining and changing his life completely. People like himself and a few other non-Japanese people knew this was not right like the FBI agent that was escorting him out of the train station.

            As I read Betty Hutchison’s story, I was stuck on how great of her it was that she wanted to be an army nurse. She wants to do as much as she could, and at that time the most she could do was be a nurse. She tells stories about her being a plastic surgery nurse. These types of nurses were very important because of all the bombing and flame damages to people’s bodies. Many lost limbs and parts of their bodies were badly damaged. Betty basically described that when something like that happens, she comes in and fixes the soldier up, and she was good at it. She also talked about her “romances” as a nurse. The nurses were used as escorts to the officers, which was a big deal. Although these women were just nurses, they played huge rolls.

            If Betty knew where the two Japanese nurses went and why they had to leave, would she or you have taken a different stand on thoughts about being a nurse?