I got married right out of high school and the first full-time job I able to get was at Midland Farm and Home Supply. I believe they hired me because of the tremendous experience I gained being a part-time clerk at Jack’s Discount which was like a small town Wal-Mart without all the frills. I took items out of cases and placed them on the shelves and on occasion shagged the carts in the parking lot and brought them in the store. I was able to perform theses duties with relative accuracy and with little if any danger to myself or others.
As the name implies, Midland Farm and Home was primarily a farm supply store. I had never been on a farm before so my knowledge in that area was and still is somewhat limited. In an effort to get around this shortcoming, they put me in charge of the automotive department which was an area I had even less expertise in.
The store was open every Saturday. The store got around the cumbersome overtime laws by giving each of us a day off during the week. I used this day to my advantage. I kept a section of shelving in my department empty so when anyone came in looking for something I had little or no idea what it was I would lead them over to that shelf and tell them we were out of it. My day off was always Tuesday so I would tell them it would be in next Tuesday. This was so when they came in I wouldn’t be there and they could ask one of the other guys who might be able to help them. It was a win / win situation for all. Sometimes a customer would find it on their own and come up to me and say that they found it over there and I would say, “I guess they got some in and put it in the wrong place”.
That was thirty five years ago and I’ll go back in on ocassion. But not on Tuesday.
Stuff that Probably Happened 