John Culbreath:  

Workplace It seems like I've always had a job...my freshman year in high school I had an after school job at Tropic Formals warehouse. We would clean tuxedos and set them up to be sent out to the stores. Minimum wage was like 2.45 an hour, and I road my bike more than a half-hour EACH WAY for a 3 hour shift. One of the perks was that I could use any tux that I wanted, free of charge. So for the SPHS chorus trip to the Bahamas, I took a dark blue CRUSHED VELVET tux as well as a lime green tux with black trim! What can I say...it was 1978. A couple of years later I had a job at a place called DAILY DINNERS where "We bring the evening meal to area homes". Again, I worked in the warehouse, unloading vans that had been used for delivery. Sometimes on the weekends I worked with the catering crew, grilling for large picnics and corporate parties. It was hard work, but it was fun. The perk of working there was that all of the employees ate free. Usually the weekday crew would sit down together and eat, while the weekend crew had to catch it on the run. Oh, I just remembered...the coolest thing about catering was that we catered the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (pro soccer) locker room, as well as the Owners box (Joe and Elizabeth Robbie) at Lockhart Stadium. That was pretty cool. Later, I worked as a janitor (there's a good story...that can't be told!), apartment maintenance(another good one), and later for my brother (no leniency!) By the mid-eighties, I was ready for another direction. While working a full time job, I was driving a shuttle bus before and after work then would go wait tables for four to five hours after that. That was BRUTAL, but it led to the next phase...restaurant management. I worked with Western Sizzlin' (not to be confused with The Sizzler), both in Hollywood, and at the store near Melrose Park on state road 7 for a couple of years. Then I took more money and WAY more aggravation to join Burger King. When you sign the agreement to become a salaried assistant manager, you are told the work week will be about fifty hours...NOT! I bet in three years I never worked less than sixty hours in a week, and seventy hours was not unheard of. In the late eighties, I switched my allegiance from burgers to pizza, and joined Little Caesars (what's with all these ROYALTY themed restaurants anyway?). After training and working as an assistant manager for just a few months, I was promoted to store manager and was answering every phone call with "Thanks for calling Little Caesar's on Davie boulevard and 31st avenue, would you like to try our MEATSA MEATSA PIZZA PIZZA today?". It just rolls off your tongue! I decided to get out of the restaurant business (NEVER to return again!), and do something that I would really enjoy doing. I worked for the BEST fish and aquarium store in south Florida...Fish's Paradise. The main store was in a stand alone building on Hallandale Beach Boulevard, and they kept the inside of the store dimly lit to show off the fish in the tanks. It was awesome! About this time, I was seperating from my first wife and was living in a nice (but small) effeciency apartment in Hallandale. My life couldn't have been better! Most days I woke up early, grabbed my snorkle gear, and drove down to Bear Cut (just over the Rickenbacher Causeway) on Key Biscayne and snorkeled for a few hours. Then I'd head back home, get changed, and go to work at a tropical fish store. How great was that! After several months of absolute BLISS, my first wife and I got back together (all good things MUST come to an end!), and after a few months we moved to Jacksonville, where I now live. Once here, I proceded to get the worst job ever (see favorites to the right), and we got divorced (there's no connection between job and divorce!). I worked as a groundskeeper for two years then started CULBREATH LAWN CARE and LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE, now in my 13th year. I'm getting restless though...might it be time for a change?