Ora Carpenter Omerza history, 6th installment

My first permanent job in a beauty shop was with a woman named Mickey. It was a small neighborhood shop and I was the only other operator. It was a nice place to work. We were quite busy most of the time. I worked on 50% commission. The only trouble was that after I was there awhile and had a good clientele built up Mickey began to hedge on the pay check. Saying she just couldn’t pay all that was coming to me because she had this and that to pay. I couldn’t quite understand it. I was making money for her but she was always a little jealous of me. When some of her old customers asked for me she didn’t like it so I decided to find another job. I got one where there were three operators. A man and his wife ran it and there was a barber shop in front. I enjoyed working there. They were always fair with me when it came to pay. It was a little more expensive neighborhood and the tips were good.

After I finished school and got a job, my Aunt and Uncle decided to go back to Thatcher. They wanted me to go with them but I would have had to take the Arizona State Board exam in order to work in Arizona. I liked it in California and wanted to stay there. My folks weren’t happy having me there alone so they suggested Florence come stay with me awhile. It worked out fine until she thought she was in love with the soda jerk in the corner drug store. Then I shipped her back home.

Norine Tyler came and lived with me for a while. She had a brother living in L.A. and a sister Julia in Nurses Training in Long Beach.

After I quit living with my aunt and uncle I began to drift away from the church. The wards were so scattered there at that time. I quit going to MIA because it was almost impossible for me to get there on time after getting off work. My only transportation was street car and it took hours. I had had a few sad experiences with the church so I didn’t put out too much effort to get to a meeting.

One day Norine came home from visiting her brother and family and said she had met a new fellow and I just had to meet him. Her sister-in-law took in boarders and this fellow was living there. On Valentine’s Day, it was Sunday, Norine wanted me to go with her to her brothers to take some Valentines to her niece and nephew. I went along and when we got there the star boarder was home and I was introduced to him. Emerick Omerza, what a name I thought, he preferred to be called Lefty. He said afterwards I acted too aloof. But never in my life had I met anyone so egotistical, cocky, brazen, smart aleck as he and he swore like a trooper, who could be interested. The sad part was it was made known to me at that time that this was the man I was to marry. At first I laughed and said to myself “no way". Even though I wasn’t attending church very often at that time I had always told myself I would marry in the Temple.