The official retirement party

I have worked at three companies in Austin. I was at the first, Sweet Publishing Company, for exactly ten years to the day. I was careful about that because I needed to reach that anniversary to vest whatever we called 401Ks back then. Ralph had sold the business and it was obvious that the company was on its way to Fort Worth, so I went to work for NP/C and was there for about 10 years. That company crashed and burned in the great real estate and savings & loan debacle of the ‘80’s. I ran the last payroll that company met, turned off the computers and the lights and went to work for Steve and Betty at RSI on December 1, 1987. I was so excited when I received their job offer I forgot to call them and accept. They had to call me back to see if I was coming.

Just shy of 20 years with RSI, I ended my employment on Friday March 30^th and returned to the same desk and the same job on Tuesday, April 3^rd as a contractor, working 3 days a week. Now if I could just convince them that that doesn’t mean I work the same number of hours compressed into only 3 days. When I told John I was retiring, he asked if they could have a party. I said, “A small one. Maybe like a happy hour, or something informal like that.” A couple of weeks passed and I pretty much forgot about a party until Barbara let it slip that there was going to be one – but she wouldn’t say when. Barb had a class on Thursday nights and she often left for class before I got home, but one week she said, “I’ll meet you at the office on my way to class and we can get something to eat down there.” I was faintly suspicious, but dismissed the thought.

I was in a meeting late that afternoon, teleconferencing with our guy in New York, when the office manager stuck her head in and said, “Sorry to interrupt, but Barbara’s here.” I said that that was fine; I knew she would have a book and would wait for the meeting to wrap up. “But she said she had a class.” “Yes, I know about the class,” I said, and returned to the business at hand. In a few minutes, the guy running the meeting said, “I have to stop now. We’ll resume this later.” And got up and left. I thought it odd, but I needed clarification on a couple of points, so I remained in the conference room talking to a co-worker. In a minute, she said, “I have to go,” and left.

Okay the meeting is adjourned. I got the message, so I decided to go find Barbara and tell her what was going on – except she wasn’t in my area, and there wasn’t anyone in the larger office. I could see people in the front foyer, looking out the door, so I decided something happened outside and wandered up front to see what it was – and wandered into my surprise retirement party.

Now a little background here. For several years, in staff meetings, when we would talk about problem areas, I always offered “Welcome to Wal-Mart” as one resolution. It became a running joke that I was going to go be a greeter at Wal-Mart, any day now. I even went to Goodwill and looked for one of the “How may I Help You” vests to wear as a gag at the meetings. I found them on EBay, but it wasn’t a $30 plus shipping kind of gag, as far as I was concerned. So I walk into the party and the first gift handed me was – a Wal-Mart vest. While I was in New York for a week, Barbara made me a vest. She said she had to go to Wal-Mart 3 times to get the details straight.

And here’s the back view.

John invited Steve and Betty and some other friends who were customers in the past and it was a really nice little party. I was surprised, and I was pleased.

A day or so before the party, I sat down and made a list of companies I had worked for while at RSI, and remembered 60 plus different companies. Big ones like IBM and Allstate Insurance in Chicago, and Nestle Foods in New York. And little ones like Moya Trucking and a one-man Farmer’s Insurance office. I mentioned the list at the party and before it was over, the count was well over 70 companies remembered. And you know what? There’s not a one of those companies that I ever wanted to go to work for during all that time.