18. Dental Technician

By this time I was employed as dental technician by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. My former teacher, Mr. Benson, told me that since I was now working for the government I shouldn’t ever have to worry about getting another job, that I if I to I was hired for life. I completely ignored his sage advice. My former teacher was now my boss, Mr. Thomas Cameron insisted that everyone call him "Tom." Tom was a genial from the start. He deserved my respect because he was also Company Commander in my Guard unit. Company "B" which annually won the Eisenhower Trophy for being the best in the Guard. My fellow worker, Art Gambell, was also in the Guard. One day he started calling me “Short Round" and the name stuck. When a short round is inserted into the magazine clip of the M-1 rifle it jams and the clip must be replaced. I didn’t mind being called Short Round. Edgar Monignok was called "Cowboy" because of the cowboy hat and shirts he favored. My former fellow student and now my fellow worker, Frank Elam was called "Dyastema" because he had a space between his front teeth. I was the stone and plaster rat. Or I polished finished dentures to a high gloss. I was amazed at how proficient Art had become. He could place teeth and make the wax models necessary for making ticonium bridges. I was even his student. One day Tom Cameron left town and never returned. Art said something that he was opening up his own lab in Seattle. Then Buster Brown became boss. Buster was student body president when I was freshman. He was back from the service and had married a woman from the Midwest. He was a dashing man and had even built his own two seat plane and got a pilot's license. Buster liked me because I did my job and never created waves. I looked forward to having garlic toast at his home. since I didn‘t know what garlic was. When I tried it I gassed and he thought it was one of the funniest things he ever saw. He was an easy supervisor. On paydays he would organize 4-5-6 dice games for quarters. We all would spend Friday afternoon paydays playing dice and drinking coffee. We always had the radio on in the lab. I got to listen to Arthur Godfrey in the mornings. Julius Larossa and the Maguire Sisters were the entertainers. I especially enjoyed "Art Linkletter's Houseparty" where young children provided their innocent knowledge of the world. Then Carnation Milk would sponsor "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show" who later had a hit, "Sixteen Tons." But my favorite radio show was "The Romance of Helen Trent" starring Mercedes McCambridge. Could a woman who had let life pass by find romance after forty? My answer, then, was, sure, if she was good looking… One Friday Patrick Hollywood invited to his house for dinner. Pat was a big man with a sunny disposition. He had just married his high school sweetheart and the world seemed to be rosy for him. After dinner he solemnly said. "Now; Short Round, I'm going to teach you how to play cribbage." I was willing to learn even on the condition that we would be playing for two dollars a game, double for skunk. No time for me to learn the game before we started playing for money. I saw no reason to refuse since, if I lost too much. I still had three meals a day that went with my job. "Oh- yes, Short Round, we have beer in the refrigerator." How could I refuse such a friendly offer? So we played cribbage all nite. I lost my paycheck. But under such nice conditions. It was easy but I learned a valuable lesson.