Summer Nights at the Amoco

Growing up in a small town in the late 70s and early 80s made for a lot of memories that cause the mouths of others to fall open just a bit.  Just this afternoon I was telling a younger colleague about the summer I spent working at the local Amoco station.  

"Wow, was that even safe?" she asked.

Not only was it safe, it was the place to be that summer.  My usual shift was from 3 - 11.  At 11 my friend Moe showed up to take over for me.  Moe was often late as she was usually coming from another job.  Moe worked a whole bunch of jobs that summer.  So when she showed up around 11 we finally had time to catch up.  Once the shift change was complete we would often pull out a few beach chairs and sit beneath the fluorescent lights with a Playmate cooler between us.  We would toss back a few beers and chat away the evening.  I would head on home about midnight or so and leave Moe to finish off her shift.

 Sleeping on the overnight shift was to be expected, as there was bound to be a lull in customers from about 2:30 to 5:00.  With a few overnight naps under her belt Moe would head out at 7:00 AM, start up her orange VW Bug and head off to her next job at McDonald's.


Silly me, I only worked the one job that summer.  Moe may have had more money when it came time to head back to school, but I was definitely better rested.