You're not going to believe this, but I am indeed going to reconstruct the post that was swallowed by Google Blogger thereby ruining the continuity of an important part of my "365 Thoughts..."
I decided that rather than get totally downtrodden about the whole thing, I would just sit down and record the events contained in the previous post. After all, the truth doesn't change, just the human description of it does. I will be the only one who will know which relation of it is actually better. Or was? It was 1977. I had left one way of life behind and was starting a new one. Some would say that I was in a career change. Call it what you will. I was forty years old, married and had to have gainful employment. So I did what I had done several times before. I started knocking on doors and asking for work. Along the way, a relative of mine who had a friend who had a relative with connections who happened to know of a company that was in the process of looking for help in the Personnel department. It was meant to be an "entry level professional,low management" opportunity. It required a college degree [check], willingness to work long and hard [check], good English skills [check] and the ability to type [check?]. I got a call from the connections and was told to report for an interview at 6:30 AM the next day, Wednesday. The interview lasted for over an hour and I will not bore you with the gory details. At around midday, I got a phone call telling me to report for a boardroom interview at 9:00 AM tomorrow, Thursday. I arrived in plenty of time. The next morning, Friday, I was told by telephone, that I should come in by 11:00 AM to listen to the job offer. I went, I listened, I accepted the job of Factory Labor Recruiter, $850 per month, salary. The heads of the department were busy that day so they told me to report for work at 7:00 AM the next morning. I did tell you that the next morning was Saturday, right? Oh, by the way, they did tell me that a sport shirt was fine for a Saturday. Real lax, laid back place! I went. They told me what they wanted. Two hundred minimum wage factory workers by the end of the month. It was now the 5th! They explained all the "qualifications" that the best candidates should possess. No previous employment in a unionized company; reliable transportation; good command of the English language; internal referral. This one was important because it would make the person less flaky if there was a built-in fear of offending a friend or relative. Got that? Good. Then they show me my office. They had cleaned out the janitor's supply closet to accommodate the new recruiter. True story. No writing on the application. Find a way to mark the good ones, but do not mark the application. No problem.
OK. We have an ad in the newspaper for three consecutive weeks with the headline "Assemblers needed. No experience required." Be here behind your desk by 6:00 AM. on Monday.
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I got there by 5:45. There were over 100 people lined up with applications in their hands. The security guards had been passing them out. I had been told, "you have to make up your mind in 30 seconds and the whole time you spend with anyone should not consume more than one minute." So I got behind my desk and started the process. 15 years of hearing confessions came in handy in this situation. Oh, yes, I hear some very compelling 30 second stories, believe me. I had been told that the wave would peak at about 1:00 and be but a ripple by 4:00. So it was. I was tired but had the presence of mind to make appointments with the stragglers for the morrow. 4:05 PM the Man comes in.
"Well, who ya gonna call?
"Call? Who, me? I gotta call someone?"
"Whadya think we gotcha here for, yer looks?"
"Ah, that, no. But...I...Ahhh..."
"Call the ten best and get them in here by 8:00 AM tomorrow and J... will get them ready to get to work. Start with first shift people."
He turns on his heel and disappears. He couldn't stand it in the broom closet, I guess.
Ten best? Best at what? No experience needed. So I made up my own description. I scratched my head, put on my thinking cap and called the best, as I remembered them, of course -- Best looking -- Best dressed -- Best referral -- Best penmanship -- Best country or state of origin -- Best handshake --
It was the only way I saw through the challenge of getting through ten pounds of paper, calling and making offers to people to start work in a few hours. I was trying to get home before midnight. It worked. I did get ten to accept offers of employment with the promise to report by 8:00 AM and I did get home by 9:30 PM. Much, very much to his credit, the boss only left when I left. He and I are still friends.
This went on for a month, I kid you not. We hired more than 200 employees in that month. I learned a lot. I don't remember it all, but I know I did learn plenty. One thing that I learned is that we never know exactly to whom we are talking. The stories that appear in the post entitled It's Neither as Good Nor as Bad as it Appears illustrate exactly what I mean.
I occupied that broom closet with pride for nearly one year. Many good and Godly things took root there, for the Company, for the people who transacted business there and for me. That broom closet was my Church (confessional and pulpit included), my sitting room, my classroom and my consultation studio. It all happened exactly 34 years ago. It is no farther away than my grey head. I visit it often.
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