What they could have done

I'm hearing from folks about the story in Sunday's Enquirer, about musicians who ended up in other occupations. (Be sure to read the individual profiles to the right of the Web page.) I'm sure that there are many such people out there, such as Bawe's CCM roommate, a trumpeter who is now a policeman. (Above: pianist Bawe Shinholster, maitre d' of Boca, and opera singer Berti Helmick, Esq.)

Here's an interesting "bio" from Jeff Spaulding, a former oboist who now works for P&G and "takes pictures of diapers." It makes me wonder, does our country value the arts enough? (I know the answer.) Why is it such a struggle for so many people?

By the way, Jeff wants to know if there are others out there who would like to play chamber music with him.

Read on, for Jeff's life story:

Started piano lessons, at Mom's insistence, at age 6. Started playing oboe in 7th grade when the band director switched me from the clarinet

1976 – high school graduation, Largo, Florida, played oboe in the school band and orchestra, and the Pinellas County Youth Symphony, runner-up in Florida Orchestra Young Artists Performance Competition in Tampa, etc.

Offered $2,500 per year scholarship from Stetson University to play oboe

1980 – graduated from Stetson with Bachelor's in Music Education., went directly to he State University of New York at StonyBrook

1982 – graduated from Stonybrook with a Master of Music degree in Oboe Performance, got married, and moved into New York city in August, played mostly low-paying oboe gigs in low-quality orchestras, spent hours per day on the subway, made almost no money, had un-rewarding day jobs to pay the rent

1984 – June, completely burned out on everything, got a divorce (no kids), quit the oboe for a while, got a job waiting on tables at "Poor Richard’s Pub and Restaurant" on 53rd street, right next to the Museum of Modern Art, worked 7 days a week to pay off lawyer and soon-to-be ex-wife. Began thinking that I would like to grow a beard and be a world traveler.

1984 – October, a Chinese woman came into the restaurant where I worked and I talked to her, she was looking for single Americans to teach English at her college in SiChuan province for 2 semesters. I signed up.

1985 – April 1, landed in BeiJing, the college "Southwest Petroleum Institute" got me from there to a remote city in SiChuan where I spent 2 semesters teaching English and learning enough Chinese to get around

1986 – February, moved to Xian where I took the Oboe Teacher job at the Xian Conservatory of Music and played in the school orchestra, at one point the conductor admonished the rest of the group because even though I spoke Chinese very badly I was still listening to him more than the others (typical conductor)

1986 – August, returned to the US and got an apartment in Sarasota, Florida and the 3rd oboe/English horn job in the Florida West Coast Symphony. Also got a couple of waiter jobs out on Saint Armand's Circle.

1986 – December, the epiphany, played a gig at Longboat Key Country Club with a violinist buddy (Bill). Santa Claus comes in on a motor boat and jumps ashore, carries his bag of toys up the beach to the pool area where the rich kids are waiting for him. Bill and I walk with Santa and play Jingle Bells as a duet. I improvise an accompaniment part while Bill plays the melody. As we walk up the beach in our tuxedos I see myself, 28 years old, master's degree, 5 years experience, making $75 playing Jingle Bells. I decide to make a change.

1987- January, go to the local college career placement office, get advice on what majors are getting decent jobs, decide to go into Electrical Engineering (my Dad was an EE and I played with wires, batteries, and circuits as a kid). That summer I audit the local junior college algebra/trig class, studying math 3 hours a day in my 2nd floor apartment that looks out on a bayou where snook and mullet swim by. I ACE the class, even though I'm just an auditor, and decide to enroll in the fall Chemistry One and Calculus One classes. I am accepted at University of South Florida, to which my junior college credits will transfer.

1988 – January, move to Tampa, share an apartment with another student, my rent is $170 per month. I get a job as a church organist at a Methodist church that pays $10,000 per year, more than I ever made as an oboist. It takes me 9 semesters (including summer semesters) to get my Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, I still spend 3 hours per day studying, mostly doing word problems. At least I'm used to spending lots of time alone in a small room, working on something (oboe, reeds, math, whatever…)

1990 – December, graduation, and I get a job with Procter & Gamble (P&G), working at the paper factory in Albany Georgia. The job pays more than I ever thought it was possible to make, but walking into the plant in the mornings, I wonder what the heck I've done. Huge plumes of steam rise out of numerous stacks on the roof. I make toilet paper for a living. During my 7 years in Albany I play 5 seasons with the local orchestra, mostly as 2nd English horn because I don't want the pressure of playing first. Play substitute organist gigs. Get a transfer to Cincinnati with P&G.

1998 – April, start my new job with P&G in Cincinnati.

Currently – Still in Cincinnati. Started a fun job with P&G about a year ago in Machine Vision, I now take pictures of diapers for a living and I'm working with some neat people in a good organization. I'm learning all kinds of things about computers, cameras, photography, Ethernet networking, digital signal processing, etc. I love learning this stuff.

OK, I've vented!