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AUDIO CLIPS
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Juanita, a coal miner's daughter, was raised near Harlan County Kentucky.
She works at the Meadowthorpe CafÈ in Lexington and serves mostly farmers and factory workers. She's been waitressing for about 30 years.
I'm from the country and I've done nothing but work all my life. Waitressing just came naturally to me. I couldn't go to another job.
Restaurant work is my life and I guess I'll stay here until I can't walk no more [laughing]. I tried to retire from here and I stayed
gone for about 7 months and I called Tommy and said, "I've got to come back. I'm about to go nuts."
...on aging...
I think working on my feet all of the time has helped me to age better. But I'm having problems with my legs right now.
They get kind of weak on me. I work about 6, 61/2 hours
a day. I was working 6 days a week but the doctor made me slow down a little bit. I work about 4 days a week now.
...falling at work...
I've fallen in here, I don't know how many times. I
just bounce right back up and go on. I'm like that.
One of these days, I'm going to fall and I won't ever
get back up [laughing] I fell one morning in here, we
had a carpet running from the kitchen door and someone
had pushed the rug up and I came through with a case
of eggs and I there I went. Then here come the cook
Janet, she had tomatoes in her hand, they all flew up
and one went into the air. And I bounced right back
up. She said, "Juanita, you alright?" I said, "I reckoned.
I broke a case of eggs." |
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