To the editor:

Comments about the newspaper article by Andrea Neal, “Blast from the Past — Hoosier drive-in restaurants rocked.”

I have enjoyed many of the essays that Neal has written leading up to the state’s bicentennial and published in The Tribune. Thank you.

I was an A&W carhop in the 1960s in Seymour. In fact, it was my first real job. At the age of 14, my mother told me to think about what kind of job that I would be interested in. I decided it was carhopping, so my mother and I wrote an ad and placed it in The Tribune. It was short and to the point: “Almost 15 years old, want a job as carhop, phone number listed.”

So in a few days after that ad was published, I heard a response from the owner of A&W Root Beer Stand. She interviewed me and gave me my first job. I loved my job and worked there part time after school and on weekdays for about two years.

The best part was meeting and waiting on customers and counting up the tips at the end of the night. A quarter was considered a nice tip in 1967. Many of the employees became good friends of mine. They are still my friends today. My boss always insisted that our parents pick us up at the end of the shift. I think she was concerned for our safety. This job ranked high as a favorite job on my career ladder.

Judy Wonning

Seymour