I was hired as a cashier, along with another girl who was an Oregonian. I was the sole cashier at the previous dealership I'd worked at, so I was confused by the need for two as well as curious about what happened to the prior two to need to hire us simultaneously.
There was also a woman doing all the reconciliation work (tracking down open repair orders, etc) that had been my responsibility as cashier at the Arizona dealership, so I found myself with little to do. I started exploring, wandered into the shop and at some point... I met Mit.
Mit started to visit me at my desk regularly. A comedy genius (and I do not mean that facetiously), he would share with me repair orders that were hilarious. Where the attendant might have written "Left front tire almost needs replacing" Mit would have replied "Almost replaced left front tire". Being a Cadillac dealership and customers expected free car washes on demand, the attendant wrote "Dead bugs on windshield" and Mit replied "Live bugs on order".
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
The Beginning
I honestly don't remember meeting Mit. I was working in a new job, living in a new place. Everything was new, so I didn't notice one new person in particular. And though this story is about Mit, it necessarily starts with Michael.
I had previously been living in Provo, Utah and working in Springville, Utah at a "benchmarking" company. I didn't really understand what that meant at the time but I understood that they did automated phone surveys where the survey taker received a postcard in the mail and called the automated system to take the survey at their convenience. Nearly two decades later, I really don't understand why all surveys aren't done like that (or online); the telephone survey phone call should be a relic of the past.
I was told I was "office manager" which sounds quite prestigious, and undoubtedly is under the right circumstances, but it definitely wasn't in my case. I "managed" the office because I was the sole inhabitant of it. I ordered office supplies. I stuffed envelopes, marveling over the size of the huge envelopes that I hadn't previously known existed. I refilled the postage meter. I took the mailings to the post office. I locked the door and watched dial-up porn if I had nothing else to do. There were two business partners and one liked to try to micro-manage what I did. He said in law firms, attorneys had to account for every minute of their time because it was billable. He asked me to do the same. I agreed to do so, since I had no choice but to agree, but for $8.25 an hour? Uh, no. I never kept a list of my actions.
My boyfriend was moving to Washington state to take care of his mom (his mom turned out to be a lady who could take care of herself perfectly well, but you know how sons are...). He said he'd be back in six months when his younger brother returned home and could "take care" of their mom. I half-jokingly asked him to take me with him. He half-way considered it before leaving. When he got half-way to Washington, he pulled over and called me, asking me to come with him. I said, "Find me a job and a place to live." and I'd come. It took a couple months, but he kind of did. Ultimately the job and living accommodations he initially found both fell through, but I packed up all my worldly possessions and headed north. I stayed at his house the first night (we slept on the trampoline, in separate sleeping bags, with his little sister sleeping in-between to ensure no funny business). I spent the next few nights with a friend of his family until he procured a longer-term place for me. I ended up in a backyard...office building that had been purchased and moved to its current location years earlier with grand plans to have tenants. Michael made the owner put his money where his mouth was and actually outfit it for a tenant: me. Once the shower and toilet were functional, Michael (a flooring salesman) installed Pergo throughout the front room and, later, got the wood stove functioning. I never used the wood stove, though, relying instead on multiple electric heaters. I'd turn them on at night and jump into bed. I can't believe I didn't freeze to death, with the complete lack of insulation in that building, but it wasn't yet cold when I first moved there. The gorgeous Columbia Gorge weather in September is without compare. Everything was green and there were wild blackberries growing abundantly in Michael's backyard. An Arizona native, I was mesmerized by such things.
It took a week or two of applying for jobs before I got hired for one. I interviewed at UnderwritersLaboratories, which was fascinating even though I never heard back from them. Having worked previously for a couple years at a car dealership in Arizona, the job I ended up getting was at a dealership in downtown Vancouver, Washington.
I was a bit further up the Gorge from Michael, but I would stop at his house on my way to work every day. I kept my groceries in his fridge since my place didn't have a working refrigerator. On most days, he'd have one of my peaches sliced in a bowl and sprinkled with "fructose"(his mom being a health fanatic before it was popular) for my breakfast on the run. I would usually pack my lunch the night before and stop by to pick it up. I was living on a shoestring, though I wasn't familiar with what that was at the time; I just knew I was broke.
I had previously been living in Provo, Utah and working in Springville, Utah at a "benchmarking" company. I didn't really understand what that meant at the time but I understood that they did automated phone surveys where the survey taker received a postcard in the mail and called the automated system to take the survey at their convenience. Nearly two decades later, I really don't understand why all surveys aren't done like that (or online); the telephone survey phone call should be a relic of the past.
I was told I was "office manager" which sounds quite prestigious, and undoubtedly is under the right circumstances, but it definitely wasn't in my case. I "managed" the office because I was the sole inhabitant of it. I ordered office supplies. I stuffed envelopes, marveling over the size of the huge envelopes that I hadn't previously known existed. I refilled the postage meter. I took the mailings to the post office. I locked the door and watched dial-up porn if I had nothing else to do. There were two business partners and one liked to try to micro-manage what I did. He said in law firms, attorneys had to account for every minute of their time because it was billable. He asked me to do the same. I agreed to do so, since I had no choice but to agree, but for $8.25 an hour? Uh, no. I never kept a list of my actions.
My boyfriend was moving to Washington state to take care of his mom (his mom turned out to be a lady who could take care of herself perfectly well, but you know how sons are...). He said he'd be back in six months when his younger brother returned home and could "take care" of their mom. I half-jokingly asked him to take me with him. He half-way considered it before leaving. When he got half-way to Washington, he pulled over and called me, asking me to come with him. I said, "Find me a job and a place to live." and I'd come. It took a couple months, but he kind of did. Ultimately the job and living accommodations he initially found both fell through, but I packed up all my worldly possessions and headed north. I stayed at his house the first night (we slept on the trampoline, in separate sleeping bags, with his little sister sleeping in-between to ensure no funny business). I spent the next few nights with a friend of his family until he procured a longer-term place for me. I ended up in a backyard...office building that had been purchased and moved to its current location years earlier with grand plans to have tenants. Michael made the owner put his money where his mouth was and actually outfit it for a tenant: me. Once the shower and toilet were functional, Michael (a flooring salesman) installed Pergo throughout the front room and, later, got the wood stove functioning. I never used the wood stove, though, relying instead on multiple electric heaters. I'd turn them on at night and jump into bed. I can't believe I didn't freeze to death, with the complete lack of insulation in that building, but it wasn't yet cold when I first moved there. The gorgeous Columbia Gorge weather in September is without compare. Everything was green and there were wild blackberries growing abundantly in Michael's backyard. An Arizona native, I was mesmerized by such things.
It took a week or two of applying for jobs before I got hired for one. I interviewed at UnderwritersLaboratories, which was fascinating even though I never heard back from them. Having worked previously for a couple years at a car dealership in Arizona, the job I ended up getting was at a dealership in downtown Vancouver, Washington.
I was a bit further up the Gorge from Michael, but I would stop at his house on my way to work every day. I kept my groceries in his fridge since my place didn't have a working refrigerator. On most days, he'd have one of my peaches sliced in a bowl and sprinkled with "fructose"(his mom being a health fanatic before it was popular) for my breakfast on the run. I would usually pack my lunch the night before and stop by to pick it up. I was living on a shoestring, though I wasn't familiar with what that was at the time; I just knew I was broke.
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