My First Job: Carla Leonardi, owner and line cook

The Seattle Times Company

August 14, 2005

My First Job: Carla Leonardi, owner and line cook

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Carla Leonardi

Current position: Owner and line cook, Cafe Lago.

First job: Directory-assistance operator, Cincinnati Bell, 1973.

Pay: $7.50 an hour.

How I got the job: The only female executive at Ma Bell and a good friend to my parents arranged a job for me so I could save a little money. I was on my way to Ohio University as a photography major, and the thought of $7.50 an hour was irresistible; minimum wage was $1.60 at the time.

What I learned: Computers were not quite ready for use outside NASA, so phone numbers were found by letting our fingers do the walking in the neighborhoods of A through Z. I was stumped when people often called asking for a number for "My boyfriend, Frank" or "Gimme the number to Sally." No last names were given, and they were very angry about the fact I needed a little more information. Our calls were randomly "monitored for quality-control purposes," but I couldn't help tempting my boss by faking all sorts of accents, such as my English accent or the Kentucky drawl I'd learned across the Ohio River. The one time I was randomly monitored and (severely) reprimanded was when I used my Italian mom's very broken English. "Assistenza directatoria, canna I helpa me you?" With my headset on, I had talked to thousands of faceless people. I had learned to listen carefully to their words and voices.

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