<Begin Segment 19>

TI: So I want to sort of go back to the story. So your mom helped you guys get started with this apartment business, and it was your older brother Floyd who was an aeronautical engineer, couldn't really get a job, and then you had Ed, who was a quadriplegic, so he was sort of disabled in that way, and then you. And then Floyd got another job helping his architectural, architect friend. And so now it was just you and Ed now running the, the apartment?

RY: Yeah.

TI: So, so let's pick up the story. And then what happened?

RY: Well, then my brother Ed, well, I mean, he... he got, he did, he wasn't doing too bad as an accountant, I guess he had a couple, three of 'em, accounts, and I didn't have nothing, so I, at the apartment I decided, gee whiz, I don't know how to really run an apartment or fix anything, so I decided to go to trade school. So trade school at that time was right across the street from where I lived, and, well, the freeway's there now, but I was right across the street from the trade school, so I went over there and find out what kind of trade that I can take up. And they told me that plumbing, you'd have to go to school for three years to learn to be a plumber. And to become an electrician, you'd have to be two years. And then that was, they were both union, union-sponsored, and so I decided to be, try electrician. So I went to trade school for a couple years. I wanted to get, I wanted to get a job right away after the second year at trade school, 'cause second year of trade school, the instructor wasn't much of a, much of a teacher as an electrician. So, but at that time, construction work wasn't going so good, so I didn't get a job until about... well, I didn't get a job until about -- not as an electrician. I went to work as a motor, motor shop. And the electrical union wasn't hiring anybody, so it wasn't just me and another Caucasian, two other Caucasians weren't being hired at that time. So, so I went to work as a motor winder, and then I got a job at the union as an electrician. And after that, I was going from one union job to another union job.

TI: And how many years did you do that as an electrician with the union?

RY: Oh, let's see. I was working for the, for the union for twenty-three years. That was just enough time to get indentured into the union, union... what do you call it?

TI: Pension plan?

RY: Pension plan, yeah. And then the city, city had an opening for inspector, city inspector. So I asked my wife, I says, you know, I could lay off for three, three months as a union, union electrician, and still make enough money to compensate for working at the city hall. And at that time, it was pretty low. And my wife says, "Go ahead, get the city hall job, 'cause then you won't have to be worrying about getting laid off." 'Cause union work is always, when it's busy you're, you're working.

TI: So the city hall job would be much more steady.

RY: Yeah, steady.

TI: Stable.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.