Ed & Ray Hersman in WWII - Robert Marks.org

3.1. EARLY JOBS Ed & Ray Hersman in WWIIwhile I was sleeping and I hit him with my fist. He wasn’t hurt and wasdrunk and when I told him I didn’t have any place to sleep told me to sleepin the car any time I wanted to.Every day I made the round of Firestone, Goodrich, Quaker Oats andGoodyear but they were not hiring anyone.I went in a restaurant once put a nickel (my last one) in a slot machineand it gave me 15 cents. With my money gone I wrote home and mom sentme $20. I rented a room for $3 a week on Broadway in downtown Akron.The first night in this room was rather exciting. I went to bed and turnedout the lights and in a few minutes felt as thought I was being eaten alive.I turned on the lights and the sheet was covered with little black bugs whoquickly disappeared. These were bed bugs, the first I had ever seen. I workedout a system of turning on the lights, killing bugs like fury, turning them outthen on again, killing bugs etc. until I reduced their population substantially.When I left this room a few days later it still had bugs though.I made the rounds of the plants hunting work every day. Since I had verylittle money I did not ride the street cars but walked. After several days Iobtained a Cleveland paper and the want ads indicated that Cleveland mightoffer more employment opportunities than Akron.I hitch hiked to Cleveland and found a room on 81st St. off Euclid Ave. Itold the landlady I was hunting work, didn’t have any money, and she agreedto let me have the room on credit.I started answering ads in the paper but found only a couple days workpasting ads on books at a book-keeping firm.I was walking down Euclid near East 79th one day I ran into the Mossbrothers from near Glenville. Jennings Moss told me I might get a job washingdishes at a small restaurant called the Toddle House which is where hefound work when he first came to Cleveland.21