27 to 50
Summer Bay was a hell of a job. Second shift wasn't micro-managed as much as day shift---management left by five---but they still fucked with us. We had a guy on our shift---I'll call him Ted for privacy purposes---and one Thursday afternoon, Ted quit.
How am I sure, all these years later, that it was a Thursday? Because we got our checks on Thursday nights as we were waiting to check out. Ted and the other shift-boss handed them out around 11:25 as we were hovering around the time clock.
The first shift boss reported them missing, there was a hue and cry, cops came out, searched our belongings and vehicles---no checks to be found. Afterward, the rest of us from 2nd shift were hanging around the break area, and the our shift-boss said he was sure Ted hadn't taken our checks, because he'd seen them in the usual place AFTER Ted had left the building.
"I'll tell you what's going on," I said. "The boss is pissed at Ted for quitting, and now when anyone calls here for references, he can say, 'Oh yeah, the guy quit and our paychecks disappeared with him.'. I'll bet those checks turn up in a few weeks after they've had a chance to fuck with Ted."
And that was exactly what happened.
Oddly enough, late summer is a slow time of year for paper plates---usually we had enough made to anticipate Labor Day orders by the end of July. So, we all got laid off. I canceled a trip to New York that I'd planned, and ended up in Limbo til the New Year (1984).
Just to illustrate how strenuous the Summer Bay job was, within six months of being laid off, I gained 50 pounds. Not a record, but not cool, either.
.
How am I sure, all these years later, that it was a Thursday? Because we got our checks on Thursday nights as we were waiting to check out. Ted and the other shift-boss handed them out around 11:25 as we were hovering around the time clock.
The first shift boss reported them missing, there was a hue and cry, cops came out, searched our belongings and vehicles---no checks to be found. Afterward, the rest of us from 2nd shift were hanging around the break area, and the our shift-boss said he was sure Ted hadn't taken our checks, because he'd seen them in the usual place AFTER Ted had left the building.
"I'll tell you what's going on," I said. "The boss is pissed at Ted for quitting, and now when anyone calls here for references, he can say, 'Oh yeah, the guy quit and our paychecks disappeared with him.'. I'll bet those checks turn up in a few weeks after they've had a chance to fuck with Ted."
And that was exactly what happened.
Oddly enough, late summer is a slow time of year for paper plates---usually we had enough made to anticipate Labor Day orders by the end of July. So, we all got laid off. I canceled a trip to New York that I'd planned, and ended up in Limbo til the New Year (1984).
Just to illustrate how strenuous the Summer Bay job was, within six months of being laid off, I gained 50 pounds. Not a record, but not cool, either.
.