Working Stiff Part 2: You CAN Go Home Again!

Greetings friends! When last we left our hero he had packed up a moving truck and began the journey back to his home state of Pennsylvania. Will he arrive safely? Will he find a good job? Will he make new friends as nice as the ones he left back in New Hampshire? Will the New Hampshire friends stay in touch? Will this be the last question?
Yes. No. Yes. Yes and yes.

I suppose I should elaborate. The trip to PA was uneventful. I moved here. I moved in with Dawn in her grandmothers old house and went to work on restarting my life. With all my experience at the hospital back in NH I figured I'd have no trouble finding a job. Well we all know what they say about assumptions, right?

I immediately began submitting applications to local hospitals and I couldn't even get a job in the laundry. I took a job with UPS over the holidays. The pay was decent but the job was physically rough. I was glad when it was over.

After Christmas my uncle called asking how badly I needed a job. I said I needed one pretty badly as I was about out of cash and options. He stressed I would most likely one day curse him for this, but that the grocery store he worked for was desperate for help in their deli. I applied. I got the job. I curse him daily...

I started out part time but usually working 40 hours a week. It was without a doubt the most thankless, most mind numbingly terrible job I had since Arby's. Still, it was a paycheck and I soldiered on. One thing I can say is that co-workers came and went like a revolving door. There are many people I liked and many more I could barely tolerate. This is supposed to be about the people who came into my life and stayed. I'll focus on them and not the friends that drifted away or some of the terrible people I thought were my friends but ended up being anything but.

I started my tour of duty at the Chadds Ford location and the first person I should mention is Jennifer Behrle. Jenn was the assistant manager of the Deli and we've known each other now for almost 8 years. I've heard people jokingly refer to her as my sister and I suppose that's a fair description. Much like my own sisters, Jenn and I have fought like cats and dogs. As many of you know I have a real problem with authority. As my boss that would often mean I had a real problem with her. However like family as everyone would come and go Jenn and I would always still be there and because of that we became friends. When an opportunity to get out of the deli came up, Jenn pushed to get me into a cheese specialist position. That was the best thing to happen to me there, as I no longer had to slave away on the slicers.

The MAN....and The Boss.

Things were looking up and friendships bloomed. Twin brothers Tim and Rich Bomgardner were first. Rich was the assistant seafood manager and Tim worked next door in the hot foods department. Once I learned that they were comic book fans and fellow geeks the friendship blossomed quickly. I began inviting them to various gatherings and parties and they've remained good and true friends ever since. If you've ever been to a gathering at my house and had Herr's chips and Heluva Good Dip, thank the Bomgardners. That's their regular contribution!

Tim and Rich and some nerd.

Other notable friends like Evan, Scott, Peyton, Matt and Sean either drifted off or moved away, but came to so many functions that I feel they deserve a mention here. All were amazing friends that I have the warmest of memories of,

Next on the list of friends that refuse to go away (I kid! I kid!) is Jessica and Andrew Whinnery. They weren't a couple when I met them but they both worked at the store with me. Andrew and I would run into each other in the back room often and became casual friends. I was struck by what a good and decent guy he was. Most of the men there were absolute pigs, but not Andrew. Always respectful and always decent. He was the kind of guy you hoped one of your best friends would end up with. It just so happens, that's exactly what happened.

One of the only weddings I was ever happy to attend.

Jessica Alexander was a cashier. Beautiful girl. One look at her and you were sure she'd been a cheerleader and dated only the best looking and most popular athletic types. The kind of woman I'd avoid like the plague. I'm so very glad I didn't. I would have judged a book by it's cover and that would have been a tragedy.

Our first conversation consisted of talking trash about the newly elected Barack Obama. We shared a laugh and every time we'd run into each other we'd share another laugh. Soon we would take our fifteen minute breaks together every shift. For such a girly girl who seemed synonymous with glitter, Jess had a thoughtful soul and a real gift for drawing conversation out of a guy who preferred to play everything close to the vest. Jess became a regular at gatherings and her kindness spread to the rest of the gang. At one Halloween party she and Andrew decided to go on a date. A few years later we drove to Maryland for their wedding. They live in Maryland now but she texts me regularly and Jess hasn't missed one of my birthdays dinners yet and as the next one approaches in just a week, she'll be in attendance again.

A couple of good lookin' women....and me.

Next up would have to be Jennifer Diem. Jenn was a quiet cashier closer to my own age who was perpetually late. A single mothers life is a tough one, and I really don't remember how we started talking. I DO know she's been a regular at our parties and holiday gatherings for years, but she's usually late. It's just her thing I guess, but so is kindness and loyalty, and that's more than a fair tradeoff.

That time Jen and I dressed up as 1940's heroes...

Next up will be one of the only managers I have ever had any respect for. Now remember this. Most managers in retail are pretty close to politicians. Full of shit and almost always a bunch of sellouts. Not so Bill Hart. Bill was just a good and amiable guy who I grew to have a lot of respect for over time. After I left Bill became a semi-regular at parties and was always good for laughs and beer.

A couple of good lookin' women....and Bill and I.

The last person I'll mention from that store is someone who really became my friend after I left. Young Allie Aaronson was still in high school when she became a cashier and I would always pass her as I was leaving. She was a very chipper and friendly girl who would always chat with me on my way out. On my last day she asked for my number and asked me to keep in touch. I never figured she would. She did, and did she ever. She became a regular around our gang and now she's recently turned 21 so we can give her alcohol and not worry about getting in trouble! I can't say enough good about her. A good soul for sure.

Allie and I heading out to bury a body!

Remember the first Jenn from there? Of course you do! She got a job at the Broomall location and a promotion to department manager. A few months later she wanted me to come and be her assistant manager. I wasn't interested. However the small raise sounded a lot better after a few painful falling outs happned at the store I was in. I went for the interview, got the job and was ready to make new friends and continue the popularity I had achieved at the last store.

I hit the ground with a resounding THUD.

Maybe it was the new management title. Maybe it was the "lower" class of employees and customers. Maybe it was just my mindset from the terrible last few months I had spent at the previous store, but you'd have thought I had the plague. Nobody really wanted to talk to me and I just kept misfiring with every interaction. I grew even more depressed and would take my lunch and just go eat in my car as opposed to sitting by myself in the break room.

One day I casually mentioned this to Dawn and she got upset. She told me she never wanted to hear I was eating by myself in my car again. I promised her I'd try again and back to the break room I went. I'm so glad I did.

Very soon after I began eating indoors again I became aware that many of my breaks I'd end up sitting at a table across from a quiet, 6 foot tall, slender woman with tattoos and brightly dyed hair. She looked so much different from everyone else there that I just decided to strike up a conversation one day. We talked through the next several breaks if we ran into one another, and found we shared a very similar sense of humor. After a week she sat with me instead of talking across tables. Another week and she would ask what time I was taking breaks or lunch and a couple years later, rarely a break or lunch goes by that we aren't sitting together. We found we shared the same humor and a general similar attitude toward most things and I finally was glad I'd went to a different store. Devin Shalles has become one of the best friends I've ever known, and a regular around Poole gatherings. She sits atop the cream of the crop in my long life of friends, along with such notables as Dave, JP, Jess, Sarah and Stacie.

And yes, we're in the break room.

I decided that quality was better than quantity, and I was just fine being friends with Jenn and Devin at work. That's not to say I haven't made other friends. I couldn't be honest if I didn't mention how much laughter and fun have come from being friends with Mark Baldino, John Digiacomo and "Philly" Mary Cummings. Mark and I talk a lot of old TV and politics. John is one of the funniest guys I know and loves to loudly sing the opening lines to numerous songs. Only the opening lines though. Mary is about as real and "salt of the earth" a human being as you'll meet. She's had a rough life but her goodness and decency always impress me.

Mary, Leah, John, Jenn and yours truly..plus my second chin,

I should also mention the first new employee to be hired in the deli after me. Leah Geraghty came along about a month after me and stayed for over two years. We shared a mutual friend, Dan Ritchie, and so we had something to talk about right there. She was always a good and loyal friend to me. In the grocery biz even the decent folks can fall victim to gossip and trash talk. Not Leah. She could be a tremendous pain in my ass, but her loyalty was never in doubt. I'm glad that we've kept in touch.

I wonder what month Leah and I took this picture in?

I should also mention Pat and Steve and Dana Coffey too. Pat and Steve work in the seafood department next to me and are both big comic nerds, Obviously that's sparked many a conversation when we should actually be working. Both standup guys that I look forward to seeing. Dana Coffey works in pricing and is about the nicest, most easy going and pleasant person you could meet.

Mel Miller comes across as one tough chick from a rough neighborhood, but get her talking about Harry Potter or Pokemon and just watch her light up like a kid. I'm not a big fan of either of those things but I love talking to her about them, if only to see her soften and smile and get excited. Also honorable mentions to Deb and Quiana, who're always so pleasant.

Thug life. Straight outta Broomall.

Finally I have to mention Dave Wilt. Dave came to us after dealing with his own childhood adversity and challenges as a shy and struggling young guy. I actually tried to keep him at arms length for a while as I think I just wasn't in the right spot in my own head for friends at the time. I discovered he loved comics and as I was looking to downsize my own collection. I decided to just give him hundreds of books. We began talking more and I became aware of how really great this guy is. I started inviting him around and I've taken him to a comic shop a few times. Next to Devin, Dave is the most loyal and open Paul fan in that entire building. I love the guy to pieces. Dave and Devin have gone on several adventures with Dawn and I and they became good friends as well. If I gotta have three people in the car and going to a weird abandoned mining town, those three are my main peeps.

What a coincidence! A picture of us in a strange abondoned mining town!

Now I have other wonderful friends that I didn't meet on the job. Tara, Dana, Nate, Stacie and of course my amazing and beautiful wife, Dawn, who started out as one of my best friends in High School, but this two-part blog was all about those amazing folks I've met on the job. There were others to be sure, but this was about the ones I think about every day or almost every day.

ladykillers...

Life is a tapestry. Some grand weaver is interlocking all the threads together. The threads are each of us. Some are meant to stay woven around you for a short time, some possibly and hopefully forever. All are important though. These people are what makes life mean something. The family you choose for yourself. I have the best "family" anyone could ever ask for. They give my life meaning and purpose and I hope everyone reading can experience the same as me.

A bunch of people mentioned in the last 2 blogs! Tim, Tara, Dave, Rich, Devin, me, Dawn, Jess, JP, Awahl, Stacie and Allie. Legends all!