Hawaii More Job Hunting

Honolulu



Jan. '73

In Honolulu, I went back to the city beach to find a place to crash. I had
to be careful; I didn't want to get busted. I went back to the same
place I had been before. The next day, my bad luck at job hunting
replayed itself. By the end of the day, as far as I was concerned,
Hawaii had lost its luster. Actually, I never recovered from the way I
was treated back at the university. Discrimination (for those who got
discriminated against) was never fun. I was done in, and I didn't want
to sleep on the beach again. I didn't like to ask for favors, but I
needed help, so I called up John and asked if I could spend the night
at his place. He said, "Sure, come on over." After a shower, I felt
clean for the first time since arriving in Hawaii. (Swimming in the
ocean left a salt crust on your body. Some of the parks had cold water
showers, but the salt crust was preferable.) I had planned to leave
Honolulu in the morning, but John suggested I apply for a job at his
military base. I thought that was an idea worth checking out.

Getting a job was never easy for me, and this time it was no
different. At the military base, they told me civilians were all hired
from a central location. After getting directions, I spent seven hours
peddling my ass all over Honolulu looking for the Army Civilian Job
Corps (twice I was sent to the wrong place). When my dehydrated body
reached its final destination, the Sergeant behind the glass told me,
in a very condescending voice, that the military had put a freeze on
all civilian hiring. When I headed out, I was angry, and when I found
myself stuck in Friday afternoon traffic I became even angrier. I
almost passed out from breathing the exhaust fumes.