My Dream Job: Market Vendor
The starting shot for my career as a market vendor is hired at the 1976 Zurich Knabenschiessen Fair. I don't care that there isn't any particular prestige to this kind of occupation. I know exactly what I want: first of all to make money and to have an exciting, happy life. I have long known about the many positive sides to this job and its countless opportunities. Where else can you choose where, how, when and how much you would like to work? Father has long ago decided to live according to his taste. The firm remains closed over the warm summer months, with a few exceptions such as the Zürifäscht Festival every three years, the Albani Festival at the end of June, and the Wetzikon Fair in mid-August.
Parallel to the famous OLMA Agricultural Fair, the fall fair is held every year in St. Gallen. The fair lasts for eleven days and begins on a Thursday. We are there with two market vehicles. With roasted almonds, gingerbread such as Magenbrot and Appenzeller Biber, with homemade Nidelzältli toffee, chocolate coated bananas and cotton candy we attract the visitors, who are mostly country folk. The larger of our two vehicles stands at Spelterini Platz, directly in front of the entrance to one of the OLMA halls. "Mine", the smaller vehicle, stands in front of the Promenade Restaurant, at the very end of Market Street. That's where I am the boss. I make the people pay attention to me by happily shouting at them: "NÖD VORBI LAUFE, MAGEBROT CHAUFE. PROBIERE GOHT ÜBER STUDIERE." (Don't just walk past me! Buy some gingerbread! The proof of the pudding is in the eating.) As soon as somebody has responded, I generously stuff their knapsack and collect their money. It is almost like fishing, but with a lot more bites. Haha. Mostly because I'm always in a somewhat higher spirit than the sleepy competitors all around me. That's why it works so well. Just before the evening ends, when the others begin to close down their stands, I really step on the gas again. I often succeed in selling more in the last hour than during the rest of the entire day. That is of great benefit to me. When Dad is happy with my results, he rewards me by paying a commission on top of the wages, which are good to start with. And I need money because I soon want to visit my Helen in Holland.
This Saturday night I go to the Trischli dance club with my friend Sandy from the neighboring stand. The Steve Young band is playing, and while we're enthusiastically listening to the sounds of the ten musicians in the orchestra, we're always on the lookout for pretty girls. After all, that's what we're here for. Suddenly around midnight some half-naked Brazilian girls burst upon the stage and give us a breathtaking show. Since we're in the first row, we are in the midst of things so to speak, and we watch everything very closely. But when the dancers come to our table afterwards to give us a kind of a private performance, my mouth stays open in amazement. Of course, Sandy and I don't want to appear stingy. On the contrary, we become very generous, asking two of the dancers to our table and - like real big shots - buy them a Cüpli, a glass of bubbly. Naturally I have no intention of admitting my innocent age of sixteen. That wouldn't be very gentleman-like. Late in the evening, the star of the show, Steve Young, joins us in person and orders a Jack Daniels with coke. I know him under his real name, Wolfgang Jung, from the Hazyland disco in Lucerne. Just a few months ago I asked him about his crazy, totally remodeled and styled Corvette. Spontaneously he invited me for a cruise around a few blocks. I still know very well how proud I was when he dropped me off directly at the main entrance of Hazyland. To thank him, I invited him and some band members to my house at two in the morning, since I happened to have the run of the place at the time. If my father had known! Wolfgang is not only a cool guy and a heartthrob who seems to attract all the pretty girls. He is also a very decent fellow who happens to have a really good singing voice.. Of course, Sandy and I are also cool guys, and that is why we are...
