Job 8: H & R Block

Landscaping is a seasonal profession, so I needed short term work for the winter. A friend of mine's father worked for H &and R Block, and he needed some help for tax season. With all the tax paying citizens needing help with their W forms, H & R block sets up satellite tax centers all around Long Island. These satellite centers are mainly glass walls which contains desks, chairs, coffee machines, phones, file cabinets, piles and piles of tax forms and other miscellany all stamped the the letters H & R Block. He employed me and a few friends of mine. We had the privilege of setting up and subsequently tearing down these tax centers. We'd rent a big U-Haul truck, stop off at the main warehouse, and load it up with glass walls and chairs and any assorted H & R block satellite center items needed for the day. We'd then drive to some strip mall or Sears somewhere and set up these mini tax centers.

We worked alone, and we spend a lot of the time in the U-Haul smoking dope. A work ethic I learned from moving pianos that I quickly shared with my H & R Block associates. Our drive time recreation created the necessity to find quick and available food sources. While I could care less when it came to which establishment we dinned, one of the guys insited that we eat at Roy Rogers. Roy Rogers was a fast food chain prominent in long Island in the early eighties. It was a kind of bastardized version of Hardy's, Arby's and McDonald's all mixed together. He was convinced that their burgers were the best in the tri-state area, and we spent the next couple of months eating at Roy's at least once a day.

I don't remember much else of my time employed at H & R block. I have some clouded memories of a large glass wall crashing to pieces in a strip mall somewhere, and the cab of a U-Haul truck filled to the windows with Roy Roger's wrappers. I learned nothing of tax preparation, and even less about properly moving furniture. I did learn that eating nothing but Roy Roger's burgers and fries for two months straight is neither good for you or anyone around you.