First Day

I couldn't believe it. After too long being out of work, I was getting ready for to go. To a good job. They had sent me a package and a starting contract for me to sign. It was for more money per year than I had made up to that point. I selected the blue suit, with a white shirt and tie. This seemed to make sense at Blue Cross.

I felt really good. I could now, on the other side, acknowledge how worthless I had felt. I had lost my job. The three hundred dollars you get from unemployment not only is not enough to take care of your family, but it never feels like you earn it. It is charity given to an able body man, someone who should not need charity. I had made it. Those days were done.

I walked into the bathroom so I could look in the mirror to tie my tie. The last time I had wore this tie I had been in Dallas training client of Data Constructs. This had been my last job. I had gotten the tie from Deb, my first Boss at Pharmacia. Both of these jobs had vanished overnight. I wasn't going to let this tie be tainted by that, it needed a new start.

The drive to Southfield took longer than I thought it would, but I still got their early. I wouldn't be with my area for the first couple days. It was all training.

They took us all into a big room with twenty or so tables. Each of the tables had a couple well dressed people at it. They were young and old, male and female, black and white. The speakers were enjoyable. The people here who already worked at the company looked bored. I loved it.

They talked about how they had been hiring so there would be a lot of new people and also lots of opportunity. I breathed in relief. A hiring company is usually a safe company. They needed me, I wasn't going to squander that.

Then they brought up Rose. At that point, she had worked for the company for 47 years. She was the longest serving employee in the company. Her speech, though, was how she wasn't alone. There were other not far behind her. People who came to Blue Cross stayed. Sure sometime, some people left, but they almost always came back when they realized how good it was to work here. In a world that was less loyal, here there was loyalty.

My good feeling became a feeling of being very blessed.

On Saturday I will have been at Blue Cross eleven years. I still think about Rose, who has since retired. I still wear that tie sometimes. I still feel blessed.