Farewell to '324553'

Wednesday, June 28th brought mixed emotions for me. It was the last day of 36 years at IBM - actually, 36 years, 7 months and 25 days to be exact. Or, 13,386 days, to be more exact. The mixed emotions come from not really leaving on my own terms, yet not being able to complain about a long career with mostly highs and very few lows.

I used to think about all of the changes that my grandmother, who was born in 1905, had seen in her lifetime, when she passed a few years ago. I guess I could play that same game. When I started with IBM, there were no personal computers. In my first job, as an Accounts Payable Specialist, I had no computer at all, not even a dumb terminal. That came about a year after I was in the job, and I actually shared a terminal with the person who sat in front of my! We had a 'Lazy Susan' sort of contraption that sat on my desk, that had the terminal and keyboard on it, that we would spin around to use. It was a massive, green-on-black screen sort of beast. Very futuristic-looking as well. Well, 1970's futuristic. 

Smoking was still allowed in the office. I started working in a small room with 2 other people, and fortunately, no one smoked. After about 18 months, I got a new position which moved me out into a bullpen area. Next to me was a guy who smoked 2 packs of cigarettes every day. He would wear those suits that came with 2 pairs of pants and had a reversible vest, and he came in every day with a pack of cigarettes in each vest pocket, and work his way through them throughout the course of the day. I must have smelled like smoke at the end of each day, but don't particularly recall that being an issue.... Just the way things were.

It was also the 'white shirt' years at IBM. Uniforms, indeed. When I got the job, I remember having a conversation with my Dad and him asking me how I was fixed for suits. I said that I had one but also a blazer and slacks I could wear. He almost had a heart attack and sent me money to buy a couple of suits and shirts - white, of course. One day I wore a white shirt with a very light pinstripe - very conservative, button-down, etc - and my boss asked me if I was on vacation that day! 

 My first interview for a manager's job was in Albany NY. In those days, they were not really interviews; if you were on the 'management list' the Area Administration Manager would basically kind of line you up with a branch office that would potentially need a first-line manager around the time you were deemed to be 'ready'. So, I was kind of slotted to go to Albany, NY. The branch Business Operations Manager was a guy named Joe Griggs, who at the time was a fairly hard-drinking character. I drove to Albany in the afternoon (I was working in Waltham MA at the time) and met Joe for dinner at a local restaurant. He was a Jack-and-coke drinker. For some reason, I felt it was important to match him drink-for-drink, so I had 2 beers before dinner then another 2 or 3 with dinner. I remember getting back to the hotel pretty smashed and looking at myself in the mirror thinking, 'What did I do?!'. The next day I was very hung-over, while Joe looked as fresh as a daisy.... I had the 'official' interview, which we had basically done over dinner, a tour of the office and then a sit-down with the Branch Manager. In those days, Branch Managers were like ship captains - they ruled their domains and were the final word. I was really feeling crappier and crappier as the morning wore on, and remember sitting in his office, hung over, with the sun glaring in on me, sweating bullets and being choked by my (white!) shirt collar and the Branch Manager's unfiltered Camels... I remembered nothing about the interview later. But I guess I did ok because I did end up with the job. But it was a premonition because it was probably the worst job I had in IBM, although I did learn a lot of negative lessons from it ("When I'm an Admin Manager I will NEVER....").

Probably one of my favorite memories is how the Area Administration Manager, Marlene O'Toole, cured me of carrying change in my pocket.... I was on the Area staff in Waltham, in the late 80's, after having completed by first-line manager job in Albany. This was a staff job in preparation for becoming a second-line Business Operations Manager. I did a presentation in front of the area managers and apparently was jangling the change in my pocket at one point. The next day, Marlene called me into her office and asked me to take the change out of my pocket and give it to her. So I did. The next day, same thing - asked for the change and I gave it to her. The next day, the same. The fourth day, I finally asked what she was doing and she told me that I had been jangling the change in my pocket during my presentation. I didn't even realize what I had been doing. But it took me 4 days before I realize what SHE was doing! But the lesson stuck, to this day I do not carry any change in my pockets! (Interesting aside - Marlene retired in the early 2000's and moved to The Villages in Florida, where she is now their representative in the Florida State Legislature). 

324553? Well that was my serial number (when I started they actually called them 'man numbers'!). Later in my career, you could always tell the old timers by their all-numeric serial number. Nowadays, most have one or two alpha characters. I guess they tell old timers now by having only one letter in their serial number! 

Lots of other stories and memories, but maybe for a later day. They do make me feel better about 'moving on'. IBM was a great place to spend a career, regardless of how it ended. It helped me straighten my kids teeth, house and educate them and gave me access to a lot of skills I used in my daily life and hopefully going forward. I also met and worked with a lot of wonderful people, many of whom are still friends. Can't be bitter about any of that.