Carhop Trays and Late-Night Reassurances

I did my share of baby-sitting to make spending money in junior high and high school. I baby-sat for neighbors and friends of Mom and Dad, but mostly, I baby-sat for Iris and Bill. In the summer I would move into their house and become a “mother’s helper” while their children were on summer vacation. They always invited me to go on vacation with them to their summer cottage in Wisconsin. I just loved this. I don’t remember doing that much baby-sitting, just having lots of fun boating, swimming, and fishing. Iris and Bill were really good to me, and I’ll always remember their kindness and the special things they have done for me through the years. Their son, Jeffrey, passed away July 7, 1987. I loved Jeff so much. He had a great sense of humor. Whenever he would greet me, he would give me a big bear hug and teasingly call me “Auntie Carol Mae.” I had my first part-time job between my junior and senior years in high school. I was a carhop at the Tasty Treat drive-in on 36th street and Blackhawk Road in Rock Island. Root Beer, hamburgers, and malts were the main fare. Mrs. Mary Poston, our next door neighbor at the time, owned and operated the drive-in. She cooked the food and I delivered it on trays that hooked to the car windows. She hired me, Dee, and Marilyn McFarland and we made about seventy dollars plus tips that summer. I still have my check stubs to prove it. Mrs. Poston also owned the Hasty Tasty Restaurant on 16th Street in Moline. Barb worked there as a dishwasher on the second shift. She got home around one-thirty in the morning and was always scared to death prowling around the house at that hour. She always said, “Don’t worry Carol, I’m saving you from all the Peeping Toms in the neighborhood.”