Can you remember what you did in those lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer when school was out? In my day, school ended just before Memorial Day and started up again after Labor Day; we had nearly three months off.
Some of my friends worked helping farmers harvest their tobacco crops. Some found part-time jobs with local merchants. Some attended camps. A few got jobs working in municipal recreation departments offering summer programs. But mostly it was unstructured down time.
When my children were teens in the ‘80s, many got jobs in fast food restaurants, grocery stores and other places. Jobs in tobacco had dwindled drastically; besides, few were willing to do such hot, sweaty work…