Working in Montana and North Dakota mostly involved working among farms and ranches, especially after the REA (Rural Electrical Association) came in.  One day the boss sent me and an apprentice out to wire a new house that a young family was building.

The apprentice was a school teacher during the school term and worked with us in the summer months.  His name was George.  Knowing that the job would take all day, George asked if he should pack a lunch.  I replied; “Oh, no.  These are farm people.  They will be insulted if you bring your own lunch.  They always feed you.”  (You can probably guess who wasn’t thinking this through.)

We got our material loaded in the pick-up and drove about 30 miles out in the country to the job site.  There the man and his wife and children were sitting in a pick-up waiting for us.  I told George the first thing we better do is put in the service and get the range hooked up.  The second thing would be to get the outlet for the refrigerator going.

By 1:30 in the afternoon we had the range hooked up and I went outside to tell them that they could cook now.  There they were, sitting in the back of the pick-up with their feet hanging over the tail gate, eating a packed lunch.  They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to cook anything.

I later figured out the source of my invalid conclusion about being fed at the job site.  This was my first encounter with city folks moving out into the country and building a home.  I have come to notice that people who grow up in the country and those who grow up in the city have a wide variation in their views, habits and attitudes.

George and I finished wiring up the house in record time and headed for the nearest little town with a café.  It was now about 6 P.M.  We were famished.  I never went anywhere without a lunch after that.  Even if I didn’t eat it, I had it along.

There are a large number of apartment buildings being constructed and filled today.  Today that dynamic is extrapolated to the new view of apartment living.

You learn as you go.