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Occasionally, when speaking to students, they ask, “Mr. Davis, what was your most difficult job to get?” I reply, “My first local community job in Darlington, S.C.” Anticipating the next question, I continue, “The job at the National Recreation and Park Association was the easiest to obtain, but the most difficult.”
Job Hunting
Upon arriving at home from a one-year tour in Korea, I never dreamed that jobs would be so difficult to find. During my search--which lasted six weeks--I discussed the matter with Coach Lyles Alley of Furman University. He directed me to three vacancies; two were coaching jobs. The other was a municipal recreation and park position in Darlington, a city of 7,000 and the home of the Southern 500 stock-car speedway. I chose to pursue the Darlington job.
I desperately needed work, and this seemed to be the one most easily acquired. After all, I thought, being a recreation director in a small town with a meager budget of $15,600, and a starting salary of $3,200 sounded like a snap compared to my tour in Korea, where I commanded five M-46 tanks and 36 men. I had also served as the 47^(th) Division Assistant Special Services Officer. After the Armistice, I was assigned the role of the company recreation officer. We built a basketball court for which I organized league play. And then there was softball, flag football and Ping Pong. The troops loved it! But the favorite was tug-of-war. Considering all that, I felt that the Darlington position was one for which I was over-qualified.
