Jed Cooper, Ron Howard, and Ted Gehring on Happy Days. |
I honestly don't remember the first job I ever had. Does doing chores around the house count? I once edged the front lawn -- with manually-operated clippers, no less -- in exchange for a Green Lantern action figure. I put off doing any actual work for as long as I could in life. I never had afterschool or summer jobs when I was in high school. Eventually, when I was in college, I took a job as a Spanish tutor. (Don't ask me to speak any Spanish. It's long since vanished from my mind.) That was probably my first regular gig.
I've had plenty of jobs since then -- some fun (writing), most not (customer service). I've never been one to see work as anything more than a necessary evil. You wanna live, you have to work. That's all there is to it. Incidentally, I've tried not working. It's fun, but the pay is lousy. Following my dreams also proved to be enjoyable but unprofitable. So far, joyless drudgery has been the most reliable way of paying my bills.
In this week's episode of Happy Days, "Richie's Job," our man Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) takes a job on the loading docks at The Milwaukee Journal so he can earn money for Shirelles tickets and a new raincoat. Unfortunately, a coworker named Frank (Jed Cooper) immediately takes a dislike to him and begins threatening and bullying him whenever the boss (Ted Gehring) isn't looking. Would you believe that Fonzie (Henry Winkler) actually sides with Frank?
Find out why when you listen to our review of "Richie's Job" on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast. A new episode is available right now!