August 31, 2005

• Today marks the 10 year anniversary of Martiz closing. Maritz was my
  very first job. I know, how geeky of me to remember this date, but I’m
  the type to remember shit like this. Anywho, Dave called me tonight and
  I reminded him of this fact. We talked a lot about the old days and how
  when I first started and for about the first 1 year and 10 months, I
  couldn’t stand Dave. Still, like a fungus, he grew on me and still like
  a fungus, I just can’t imagine my life without him. Sure, Maritz was a
  dead end job that was mindless and pointless, but boy, did we have some
  fun there. Shit, I used to bring like $6-10 in change everyday because
  we (me, Dave, Jt, Don, and a whole bunch of other people) used to flip
  coins. I won’t explain it, because its too hard to explain in writing,
  but lets just put it this way, it was gambling. Speaking of gambling,
  there was the time on Dave’s 21st birthday when we played cards at Jt’s
  house and  Dave and Jt went to work drunk afterwards. Dave was
  afraid to drive because he was drinking (even though it was only
  about  1/4 of a mile………then again, I won’t drink and drive
  at all) so he made then 17 year old Jt drive Dave’s car, which was
  stick shift and Jt didn’t know how to drive stick, to work. Of course,
  this also didn’t make sense because Jt was drunk at the time too, but
  shit, we did a lot of goofy shit back then. Fuck man, I still remember
  walking into work on the day we closed, it was very sad and the place
  had the aura of a funeral. Afterwards, Don and I drove around and wound
  up getting something to eat at Boomerangs. I woke up the next day
  scared out of my mind and blown away at the thought of being
  unemployed  and also having to piss like a race horse. Dave and I
  were wondering about all the old people we used to work with and what
  those people might be up to now. Altough I loved working there, it was
  mainly because of the people I worked with. I went on to have some very
  good friendships with the people there, some of which I still talk to.
  It was very unique, I mean, Don and Dayna met there and got married,
  Jt, Dave and I became the best of friends, Heather and Rene met there
  and became best friends and we are all so close now, its like family.
  That whole job had a very big impact on my life. I got it just because
  I was out with a couple of friends about a month after graduating high
  school and not having a clue about what I was going to do with my life.
  My friend Vathana had previously worked there and we were driving by
  and on a spur of the moment, he said he would stop in and see if he
  could get his old job back. He dragged Rob and I in there and talked us
  into applying. I never thought at that time, it was a decision that
  would change the course of my life and form a career for me (albeit, a
  lame ass career). I just can’t imagine what my life would have become
  had I not been in that car that day. I wouldn’t have met Dave, Kelli,
  Jt, Don or Dayna. I wouldn’t have even thought about working in a call
  center and therefore have wound up with my current job or my jobs at
  AAA or NORC. And then, 2 years later, they closed, which at the time,
  was one of the saddest and most shocking days of my life.

  As hard as the closing was, it really was the best thing that ever
  happened to me and many of the other people that worked there. So many
  people are way better off because that place closed. I really don’t
  know what would have happened had they not made the choice for us.
  Perhaps I might have still been there. Same with Don. And Brian. And
  whoever else. Think about how much better all of the above people are
  doing now that Maritz has closed. Sure, for people like Jt and Kelli,
  it had no effect, Jt still would have become a lawyer and Kelli a
  teacher. But, so many others were sorta stuck in a rut there. We might
  not have left so soon had we not been forced out of a job. And, we
  wouldn’t have known how bad the place was unless we had to look for new
  jobs. I mean, we didn’t even have health insurance or a retirement
  plan. Although at times I long for the carefree Maritz days of playing
  hackey sack in the parking lot and making fun of co-workers (ok, so I
  still do that one) clearly, I’m better off not only for working there,
  but for getting out of there as well.

  Tomorrow, September 1 marks the one year anniversary of when AAA
  closed. Both closings couldn’t be any more different. Martiz, we walked
  in and that was it. AAA, they gave us 6 months notice, a decent
  severance, hired a job placement agency and allowed us to apply for
  other jobs within the company. They handled it the right way and were
  very classy about it. There are many things I miss about AAA, but being
  so recent, I won’t put you all through another 2 lengthy paragraphs
  about AAA, we will save that one for another anniversary. Shit, if you
  really wanted to, you can go back to my post from last September and
  read first hand all about it.

  Fuck, if gas prices didn’t shoot way the fuck up to well over $3 a
  gallon. Its times like these that I’m glad I drive a small car with
  good gas mileage instead of one of these mammoth SUVS.

  • 9:46 pm
  • 3 Comments