Some lives never overbooked

   When I applied as a substitute teacher for Gwinnett County Public Schools, I had no idea what a mental drain it would be filling out my work history. Many companies are only interested in past jobs that are relevant to the position for which you’re applying. Most don’t care that you learned how to check heads for lice as a camp counselor when all they want to know is how proficient you are in JAVA.

   But not GCPS. They want to know everything. The application made it clear that I must “Account For All Years Since High School” and list “Details of Duties/Responsibilities/Skills.”

   So I complied. Far be it from me to falsify records or withhold information. I listed all 31 jobs I’ve had since high school. Selling spices door-to-door for the Rawleigh Company. Sewing sweater sleeves together in a Bobbie Brooks factory. Working as a short order cook in a mafia restaurant. Irrigating colostomies as a nurse’s aide. Cleaning houses. Assembling chassis for an electronics firm.

   Yes, I listed it all. Along with my supervisor’s name, as required. I’m not sure how helpful that was. My Rawleigh supervisor was in his 60’s in 1965, so if he’s still alive, he’d be at least 135 years old. The Bobbie Brooks factory shut down decades ago. The head cook at the mafia restaurant was murdered several months after I went back to school. So I don’t know what GCPS would do if they really wanted to investigate my past. And I have no idea how I could help them. After all, I really don’t want to make life hard for other people, even when they ask me to.

   But Paul Blicksilver, of Lilburn, never has to worry about anything like that. If he applied to be a substitute teacher for GCPS, which I doubt he ever would, he would never have to rack his brain like I had to. He’s only worked at one job all his life.

   Right out of college, Blicksilver opened Aspen Book Store on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain. ( www.insiderpages.com/b/3713150851 ) He started with a few used shelves and a few used books. That was 31 years ago. Today, after hundreds of other businesses have come and gone in the strip malls surrounding him, Blicksilver’s business continues to grow. His bowed shelves hold over 110,000 books, most of which he can recall on a moment’s notice. He even keeps a customers’ wish list which fills 21 Rolodexes. Connecting customers with books is all he’s ever done and all he ever wants to do. Even, God willing, for another 31 years.

   As for me, I’m glad my GCPS job application is already on file. Since I filled it out, I’ve added three more jobs - a whole page of paperwork - to my resume. 

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