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| Me at the first job, I was 15. Look at all that hair! |
My first job as I have mentioned before, was also one of my best. I was a longtime customer of Comic Universe. I was lucky enough to get my first job there too. I worked there for two years, using most of my earnings to finance my collecting. Some of the most important comic books in my collection were purchased while employed there. The first appearances of Batgirl, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze were all purchased there. Also bought during that time was the first appearance of Bane, which I had signed by his creator Chuck Dixon, who was a regular visitor to the shop.
Besides all the great comics, I became good friends with the owner Frank, his daughter Christin, and fellow employees Steve Taylor, Mike Bazis, and Phil Falco. I'm still friends with all of them on Facebook, and I remember a lot of great times with Steve and Mike in particular, Steve got me into They Might Be Giants and I've been happy to see him when we've run into each other in recent years. Mike got me the promotional movie poster for Army Of Darkness that hangs in my living room as I type this.
My next job was at the Arby's down the street from where I grew up. It's a Zac's Hamburgers now. Arby's was my first job that sucked. I wish there was another way I could say it, but it's true. The management was ok and I got along with the owner well enough, but working at a fast food place is pretty terrible. It's not the job, it's the customers. People no better than you treat you like dirt. Watching kids with great grades and college scholarships being treated like they're idiots got to me. My general dislike of the public began there while slicing beef and sacking curly fries.
That's not to say we didn't have our fun and make lasting friendships. My closest friend made in those days is Kevin Donahue. He was a bit nerdy himself and we became friends pretty quickly. We remain friends to this day and have gotten together plenty of times. He even attended Dawn and I's wedding.
The other friend of note I made was Michele Skarren. Michele has a rare distinction indeed. She was the first person I ever worked at two separate jobs with . In fact, only two others can say they did that. More on that later. For now let's follow Michele onto her next job, and mine as well...
A bank teller. Who'da thunk it? Yes after leaving Arby's, I got a job as a bank teller for Fidelity Bank that merged and became First Union Bank while I was being trained. I briefly worked at the Tinicum branch. That was in a pretty rough neighborhood as I soon learned when I had to spend my days behind thick bullet resistant glass. Thankfully I was soon transferred out to the much higher class Ridley Township branch. Working at a bank was a step up. I became the business teller and got along well with most of the customers. My nerdy ways weren't so popular with the management, but it was fun working with Michele again, and I became good friends with the head teller, Lynn Amalfitano. Lynn and her husband Vince were really good people and welcomed me into their home regularly.
After some time my parents moved to North Carolina for my Dad's job, and after another year I traveled down myself. My first job there would be the most important one since Comic Universe. My second day in town I applied at Blockbuster figuring a movie fan like me would enjoy it. They weren't interested, and as I was walking back to my car I saw a help wanted sign at the Papa John's Pizza next door. I walked in, applied, and the rest is history.
Delivering pizza was FUN! I got to drive around listening to the radio all day and walking out with at least a hundred dollars in tips daily. This job led to my first apartment and two of the best friends I have ever had. I made a lot of good friends there, but all paled in comparison to Jessica Manos and Sarah Nutter. I met Jess first. She was also from out of town, in her case California, and we quickly became inseparable. We shared a love of Batman and movies and I was sad when she finally moved back to California. That sadness was nothing from the sadness I felt when I learned that two days after she moved back she stepped out to cross a street and was struck and killed by a bus. I've had fallings out with a handful of people over the years, and many friends that drifted away as friends often do, but this was the first time someone was taken from me. I still miss her.
Life is like a pendulum though. Upswings follow downswings, but rarely do you have an upswing like meeting someone like Sarah Nutter. Sarah was just a wonderful friend. We became close friends fast and I have so many warm memories of adventures with her. I'm so happy to say that even though she moved to Missouri and I moved all over the place, we still keep in regular contact and one day we'll meet up again.
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| Sarah. Truly one of the greatest! This was taken the last time we saw one another, |
Time to skip ahead a few years, and I was living in New Hampshire. I lived in NH for something like 7 years, and it's a beautiful place. I miss is every day, especially the people I met there. The first job I had was at a music and video store called Strawberries. I met some great folks there, including the other two people that I worked at more than one job with. Those two would be Bob Burrill and Sarah Huggins. On outward appearances Bob-E-B as we all called him was about as different from me as could be. We became friends quickly. He's one of the funniest guys I know. Sarah was a bit of a free-spirited hippie type with a heart of gold. Brionne, Christin and Amber were also great, but I really have to take a moment out to mention Genevieve.
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| Sarah Huggins! |
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| Bob-E-B! |
Gen was my boss there and I did everything in my power to blur that boss / employee relationship. From the time I convinced her to let all the staff drink during an overnight shift, to the times I watched out for her as she served shots to drunken idiots at her second job, to the time I held her hair as she got sick from too many shots on her own. I helped her move into her apartment where the heat was always stuck on 100. I tied her first Christmas tree to the roof of my car...and then we held onto it as a snowstorm hit and the rope came loose and it almost fell off the roof. Good times.
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| Genevieve and I. |
Strawberries closed up and I got a job with Bob-E-B at Circuit City. Sarah Huggins even came along for a brief stint. There I met two more great bosses. The store manager Ken was a great guy. He was just a real pleasure to work for and he had these huge annual work parties at his house he called Kenfest. His assistant manager Becky was the one who hired me, I still remember my interview. She later became the manager herself and I remember lots of talks in her office, and spaghetti dinner at her house with other friends from work. I also remember the day the company forced her to lay me off. She cried and despite having just bought a house and being unemployed, I was the one trying to cheer her up.
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| Becky. She fired me but she cried so it was ok. |
Other great people that I still keep in touch with are plentiful, like Marissa, Mike, Gatsu, Pat, Sarah and some others, but I can't write this blog post without stopping to mention four friends. J.P., Dave, Amanda and Aaron. On my first day on the job I met J.P. and Dave. Aaron and Amanda would com later, but all three would and continue to leave a lasting mark on my life.
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| An embarrassing picture of me and JP. |
J.P. and I were practically inseparable. Aaron, (or Awahl as we called him), Amanda and I were all room mates at one point, and later Dave, Amanda and I were roomies. Dave and Amanda gave me a place to live for as long as I needed when I was going through my divorce.
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| Amanda and I enjoying a frigid New England winter! |
To this day we keep in touch. All of them have visited me here more than once, and Dave comes several times a year.
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| Dave, Gatsu and Awahl. |
After getting laid off from Circuit City I got a job at Concord Hospital. In the year or so that I was there I met a lot of really nice folks, but one stands out above all others. Evie was the receptionist for a doctor there and by all rights all I did for her was drop off and pick up mail twice a day. I spent a lot more time with others, but we got along so well that we soon became good friends. We had lunch together so often that people asked if we were married! I've seen her each time I've returned to NH and we still keep in touch. She's one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.
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| Evie and I, down on the farm. |
After 7 years in New Hampshire I decided to go back home to Pennsylvania. I'd been through a divorce, a bad breakup after that, my Grandparents were getting up there in years and I'd reconnected with my old high school pal Dawn. I decided I needed a change. I left NH behind, loaded up a moving truck and began the next chapter in my life.
That's right, this is my first 2-Part blog!!!! Oooooh suspense! Cliffhanger! Will Paul make new friends back in his home state? Will Paul finally find a career? Tune in next time! Same Paul time, same Paul channel!
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| Pat Draper. One of the funniest guys I've ever known. |
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| Marissa Berry. She trained me at Circuit City. On the end of my first day she said she couldn't love me any more if I'd fallen out of her own vagina! |
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| Sarah Stingel. We also met through Circuit Shitty. She's a wizard with home theater hookup! |
