Writings

Jason, Inc.

Just a little historical note - written many years ago.

Jason, Inc.

It was the summer of my discontent. I had completed the first year of college at Montana State University. I had done okay, but now I had to find a job so that I could pay for another year of school. There were not a lot of jobs in Bozeman, Montana so discouragement was setting in. Then, out of the blue, circumstances changed.
It happened on a rather distinctive Saturday. I had spent a large portion of the day up Highlite Canyon with friends. We all came down and I made ‘significant connection” with my favorite friend, Margaret Baker. In fact, as I left her home in the afternoon, we hugged for quite a while. I hoped it was the start of something serious. That seemed tenuous at best when I got home.
Mike, my older brother had called. His wife’s father had a job for me if I wanted it. He was from Ft. Collins, Colorado, but the job was going to be in Gillette, Wyoming. Where was that? We got out a map and looked it up. Oh, there it is, on the desolate Eastern portion of an otherwise desolate state. But what was the job? Something to do with the local power company. It was field work of some sort. They were paying more than minimum wage. They would pay for my housing and a per dieum for food. In essence, everything that I would earn would be waiting for me when I got home. It sounded good.
But I had just made a “significant connections” with the one girl I wanted to connect with. What to do? What to do? In the end I took the job. Mom and Dad drove me to Gillette early Monday morning. At the local power station I met the supervisor and the rest of the crew. For the rest of the summer I was a Jason boy, with all of the good and bad that went with that. I did grow up. I saw sides of life that were not really pleasant. I matured in some ways that I wish I could have done without. I didn’t get into any real trouble, but that opportunity was there a couple of times. I did have all of the money that I earned waiting for me when I got home. I did see some areas of America I probably never wouldn’t have seen.
I worked for Jason, Inc. for two summers - six months altogether. I worked in Gillette, Wyoming - Steamboat Springs, Colorado - River City, North Dakota - Wheatland, Wyoming - Rapid City, South Dakota - Thermopolis, Wyoming - Wall, South Dakota.
One of the features of every Jason, Inc. assignment was the Jason Truck. They were just pickups, but this was a time frame in the early 1970’s when pickup technology was just starting to evolve. Jason Trucks were medium sized Chevy with an automatic transmission and a radio. They were not 4 wheel drive. That technology was expensive and not as dependable as today. There were many situations where 4 wheel drive would have saved us harm or embarrassment. We also could have used a winch on the front of the truck, to pull us out of situations. We didn’t have those either. So many times we tried to take the Jason Truck where the Jason Truck was not meant to go. The result was usually a walk to the nearest farm house to see if we could get help pulling said Jason Truck out of the river, the swamp or the muddy field.
It would take many pages to tell all about my days as a Jason boy.
Oh, and in the end, Jason, Inc. did help in a strange way with my “significant connection” to the girl of my dreams.