Columnist Susan Snyder: At 80, attendant is 86’d

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 | 8:13 a.m.

Russ Jackson's part-time job ended last month, and he is at a loss because there doesn't seem to be a lot of work for him in this town.

Jackson turns 80 in June. He walks with a cane because a pinched nerve in his spine has weakened his right leg.

For almost 13 years Jackson worked 20 hours a week for Clark County as attendant for its downtown parking garage. His smiling face and jovial chat welcomed county workers from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. each weekday.

That ended in March when Jackson's supervisor showed up at the end of his shift one Monday morning and told him Jackson was being let go. Personnel matters are not public record, and county officials could not comment on the reason. Jackson figures it had something to do with a verbal altercation he'd had with another employee.

But the county is eliminating the parking garage job when the fiscal year ends June 30 anyway. So Russell would have lost the job then, if not now.

"I've been working since I was 8 years old," Jackson said Friday. "I've always worked. I don't know anything else."

Jackson is not alone. The Las Vegas Valley is full of residents in the same situation. But employers are out there who want to hire them, said Claudia Collins, associate professor of aging issues in UNR's Clark County Cooperative Extension office.

"There are a number of companies looking for older workers because they show up for work. They show up on time, and they put in their work," Collins said. "And they don't require health coverage. They have Medicare."

Older workers bring years of experience and have learned to deal with a wide variety of people. This makes them desirable as greeters for Wal-Mart or customer service people in places such as Home Depot or Office Depot, Collins said, adding that all three companies typically seek older workers.

"They have a work ethic," she said of seniors. "But they usually want daytime work, and the job needs to be within their transportation needs."

She suggests reading the want-ads diligently and playing to one's passions and skills.

AARP's Senior Community Service Employment Program provides work-training options for low-income people 55 and older. It helps people update or gain new work skills while helping them find jobs.

The program served about 21,800 nationally last year, 176 of whom lived in Clark County. Of those served here, 70 percent were women, and 15 percent were age 70 or older -- percentages that match the national statistics.

Jackson's wife still works as a dealer out at Primm Valley Resort, and she makes decent wages.

"But it's not enough," he said.

Jackson's 40-year casino career included dealing craps at Harrah's in the 1950s and working as a slot machine floor man. His first jobs were setting pins in a bowling alley and selling newspapers as a little boy in California.

"I'd row out into the harbor and sell papers to the people in the boats," he recalled. "I was scared, too. I couldn't swim."

Now, he is afraid no one will need him for anything.

"I'm from another life -- another time in history," Jackson said. "But I'm honest, loyal and dependable."

For more information on AARP's job program, call 648-3356.