After the Falls: Cathy's work life

Cathy is introduced to working life at a much younger age than would normally be expected. However, her experiences from these jobs help define her as a person. Three jobs in particular that had a large influence in her life were those at, "McClure Drugs", "The Dunk" and "New York State Welfare". Working for McClure Drugs is a defining moment in Cathy's life because it alters her childhood. As she was a very "active" child, a doctor suggested that she be given a job as a method of deploying her extra energy in a more positive direction. Instead of playing with other children her age, she would spend her time delivering prescriptions with Roy and working alongside her father. This can be seen as Cathy reflects on her life in Lewiston, as she says, "The problem was that I hadn't had real friends in the past, other than the occasional boy on my street with whom I would play outside. I had never had a friend to my house because I was never there. I had worked since I was four years old, and my closest friends were the employees in the drugstore, mostly Roy, the driver, and my father." She and her father would share "the same concerns about the store and consider how to make things run more smoothly." She was devoted to working to her fullest potential.

Cathy lands her job at "The Dunk" in a manner that seems typical of her eccentric personality. She and her mother and father had gone down to the city "to get a new blade for what her father referred to as his 'self-propelled'". They "were in the Puerto Rican part of the city and there were mostly warehouses and rundown bars." While she and her mother waited for her father, they came upon a doughnut shop where they decided to eat. While eating, they noticed that there was a job interview in progress for a waitress position. The final task was to figure out how to work the coffee machine in less than two minutes. Cathy, after watching the first potential waitress fail, immediately jumps in and does the job in "record time". She gets hired and begins working there a large portion of her teenage life. She describes "The Dunk" as "a soggy doughnut at the bottom under the intertwined concrete." Cathy learns a lot from other people through her work experience there. She takes her father's philosophy, "you can learn from everyone if you ask the right questions" and applies it to her everyday life. She asks questions of the customers who come from all over and turns her everyday work into a learning experience.

Another job that Cathy had was with "New York State Welfare". This job caused her to absorb two of life’s most valuable life lessons. She begins her work there as a summer job and admits to having no interest to become a social worker. It "took her a while to understand how the welfare system operated." She realized that when she "worked a full eight hours that she was upsetting not only her co-workers but also the clients." She describes how "Mr. Shoomack looked the other way when everyone in the office went home after lunch. And in return, they covered for him by never asking any question or imposing in any way." After Cathy realizes this, she begins returning home at noon with the rest of the employees. Her mother states to her, "This is a pattern." After Cathy explains everything to her mother, she only replies, "I'm surprised." Cathy learns a valuable life lesson as she realizes her mother's disappointment in how she was corrupted by the system so easily. "From then on, she decided, she would work a full eight hours every day". The other lesson she learns is through her carpool that she forms with two other girls who were working there. Cathy becomes livid with the way that one of the girls, Miriam, is treated by her father (who is a judge). After Cathy gets into an argument with him about his attitude towards parenting, she becomes inspired and transforms this rage into something positive. She notices in the newspaper that the "American Heritage Week would be running an essay contest." She enters the contest and tells the story of Miriam and ends up winning the contest. This leads to her involvement with Laurie Coal, a girl who tied Cathy for first place in the contest. In conclusion, because it was realized that when she worked, "she got into far less trouble" Cathy always spent a lot of time tied down to a job. Through each experience, she learned different lessons and her life was shaped accordingly. Working gave her new values and motives to help her continue her life always in a more positive direction.