Jobs I Have Known #1

Alley Rat is doing a great series about her history in the work force, and I'm gonna join in, because I think it is a great way to let readers know about me.  I hope some of my readers will join in and do write about their work history as well.  Here's my first installment.

My mother's parents owned a party and wedding rental business.  As I understand it, 50 years earlier (or so), my Granddad started the business as a tool rental company.  They rented jackhammers and the like.  If they'd stayed in that line, I'm sure that later on they would have would have rented things like Bobcats and forklifts.

At some point, my Grandmother started doing some party planning on the side.  She was good at it, and before long, The Store (which is just what we called it) turned full-time into a party and wedding place.  I guess it was pretty well known, because a lot of people from the area still remember it.

My Mom and my aunt both worked there for a long time, and it was only natural that, when we were younger, my sister and I would do some work there too.  During my spring breaks I'd work there, answering phones and filling out paperwork (which, looking back, was probably just a way to get me to behave myself during my days off).  I think they agreed to pay me $.50/hour (I just this very moment realized that modern keyboards don't have a cent symbol key anymore), which to me was an amazing amount of money.

Ancillary to The Store was a medical supply store that was also a pet project of my Grandmother's.  It got successful enough that they opened up a smaller building across the street specifically for it.  That would be fortunate later on.

One night, my mom, stepdad, sister and I had gone out.  I can't recall what we were doing, but I do remember that not long after we walked into the house, the phone rang, and it was my stepdad who answered.  Gene, a long time employee (who I found out this weekend basically spent 25 years in the military, retired from it, and spent the next 25 years working for my grandparents) was on the other end of the line.  He asked to speak to my mom, and Randy handed her the phone.  I could tell that something was wrong, and we all kind of stood around.  My mom wandered into the garage for a second with the phone while my stepdad and I just sort of looked at each other, silently asking the other if we had any idea what was going on.  My mom came inside looking very upset and said, "Thanks Gene," and hung up the phone.  She looked at Randy and said "The Store has burned to the ground."

She left, and headed to the building, and Randy, Aubrie and I left a few minutes later.  I'll never forget what I saw when we got there.  This building, which was a pretty large one, was still burning, though firefighters had managed to contain it.  It turns out that a ballast (I'm not an electrician, is that how you spell it?) had burned out and started an electrical fire.  The building would eventually have to be completely demolished, and we basically moved the business across the street to the medical store building.

Over the next few weeks, we rummaged through the rubble to find as much that was salvageable as we could.  For a 10 or 12 year old kid, it was like a funhouse.  For some reason, the memory I have was finding the Coke machine, burned beyond any ability to function, and getting to throw all the damaged cans around the lot and watch them explode. 

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As successful as The Store was, it also had a lot of detrimental effects.  Family businesses are hard, because people have emotion wrapped up in their professionalism.  Over time, resentments grew between family members, with a lot of it happening between my mom and aunt.  Before my grandparents passed away, a lot of drama transpired, which I won't go into here, but suffice it to say that I believe that the majority of it has its roots in the wounds that were dealt to the family by working together. 

Eventually my Mom quit, deciding it wasn't worth it anymore.  There were tense times after that, followed by a couple of years when there was a bit of reconciliation.  When I turned 16, and had car insurance to pay for and things like that, I went back to work for The Store, and more specifically my aunt.  During the summer I worked 5 days a week, and during the school year I just worked on Saturdays.  I sometimes cleaned dishes and packaged things like plates and silverware in their individual bags for the next time they would be rented.  One summer, my best friend, Chance, worked with us, and he did a lot of deliveries and loading and unloading 8' tables (which are the bane of my existence to this day). 

But mostly, I helped put the invoices and rental contracts into the computer and balanced the monthly ledgers.  Looking back, I can see that the reason I was doing it was because my aunt was months and months behind, but at the time I just thought it was my job.  I really don't remember how much money I got paid, but it was enough for me at the time.

I was constantly pissed off at my aunt, who's mood swings combined with "youngest and unappreciated child" syndrome made her a complete terror to work with, aside from the fact that she was in her mid-thirties and had never really held a job outside of The Store, save for the year or so that she rebelled and moved to Florida because she "just... couldn't... take... it... anymore."  I'm not sure she ever actually held a job there, though. 

It wasn't all bad.  I goofed around as much as I worked.  My aunt would pay for McDonald's breakfast runs, which was always awesome, and my grandmother and I would go to lunch a lot.  I've written about my Grandmother before, and though she was a handful sometimes, I did enjoy those lunches.  There was one restaurant in particular that we used to go to.  It was one of those Sizzler type places with the giant cow outside.  Since then, I've seen them in many different cities, but at the time I thought that a restaurant with a cow out front was the coolest thing.

Working with Chance was fun too.  It's the only time that we've worked together and we had a lot of fun. During the time that I worked there, the Ballpark in Arlington where the Rangers play was opened, and the All-Star game was held there that year.  Every rental store in the area was sold out for the events, and the day after the game, I got to go all over the places in the new ballpark that I'd never have imagined I'd have gotten to so under other circumstances, (little did I know that I'd end up working in the ballpark again).  At one point, I was standing in George Bush's suite (pre-governor days) and thinking I'd really accomplished something just by being there.

In the end, however a year or working for my aunt was all I could take, and I quit.  It is funny, because I don't have any specific memory of quiting, but I just know that my employment came to and end at some point.

I would never, ever consider going into business with my family, or with the family of my future spouse, again, even though I know of and have seen other families where it is successful.  The Store is like this entity in my head that was the source of all of the pain and troubles that my family went through, even though I know that it was the people inside it that should be blamed.  It is just easier to say that "The Store" caused our problems. 

I haven't seen my aunt in years, as a series of events that, as I said, I believe can be tracked back to The Store unfolded and she ran away a few years ago.  I'm glad I have the experiences working there, because they shaped me as a person in ways that I didn't realize until much later down the road, but it is an experience that I never, ever wish to repeat.

The next edition will feature my attempt to imitate Al Bundy professionally.

Comments

[Aubrie]

We had been at our school picnic the day that the store burned. Also, remember, Mom had been in the store earlier that evening, shortly before or just as the fire broke out and we never knew until later.

It's interesting to hear your account of your years working there, expecially since some of my experience was so different in my mind.

[Dylan]

I didn't remember it was a school picnic. And I remembered about my mom being there.

How were your experiences different, out of curiosity?

[Aubrie]

I don't know exactly. I mean, really we did the same thing. But I don't remember working with Grandmother as much, I mostly remember Aunt Suzi. I always worked the counter with the other girls, and occasionally I would help Suzi with invoice stuff. But I have no recollection of working when mom was there.

Back when we were smaller, I just remember playing in the store, or Gene helping us blow up water balloons. Later on, I remember thinking that working the counter sucked because no one took me seriously. I know, I was only 13ish, but I remember everyone patronizing me because I was the owner's grandkid, not because I knew what I was doing.

My most vivid memory was of the last few motnhs before we sold the store, trying to get caught up on accounts who still hadn't paid. And I remember Suzi handing over the accounts she didn't want to pester anymore and letting me deal with them.

I have good memories about that place, but not from when I was working there.