Mary Nugent, secretary to one of the engineering managers. 73 years of service to the company, which has changed names a zillion times since she was hired. Said she loved coming to work every day. About a year ago she became ill and went into a senior care facility, still sharp as a tack, but the body wasn't willing any more. She passed away yesterday at 91.
You know how every five years you get a service award, and a catalog of prizes to choose from? For my 30 year anniversary I got a nice $300 watch, and other choices were a bike, a barbeque grill, binoculars, artwork, jewelry, etc. A couple of years ago one of the guys said Mary Nugent's 75-year award choices would be a car, or a crypt.
Nice. Hope he didn't say it within her hearing. This is why I always laugh at the "old" meme around here, as if there's some magical age at which everyone suddenly becomes the same person. There are people like Mary for whom the job and being around you people kept her young. There are marathon runners in their 100s. In contrast, there's a guy in his 40s in this forum whose "I'm getting old" meme has been running since he was a 30-something. If you're healthy, age is a state of mind.
Man, I tell you what - I respect people who work. Hopefully there is family around to pay her respect.
Not to speak for Apostle, but in my experience, there are "clock punchers" and there are people who care. Clock punchers show up and follow directions and put absolutely no thought or emotional energy into anything other than doing exactly what they're told to do.
IMO "real" work is anything I wouldn't want to do. Driving a truck, putting shingles on a roof, flipping burgers, security guard, etc.
A couple of weeks ago we got anyone who cared together in a conference room and took several group photos of people waving to her. I made a big montage poster with the group shots and individual shots, and a big "We miss you Mary!" on top. I was just told that her boss finally took it to show her Tuesday. She opened her eyes, looked at it, smiled, and died. I killed her!
That's what I'm talking about. Now, small businesses can't have as large a percent of mere clock punchers as large businesses can, but every business has some people who care more than others. And the ones who care carry things.
She had been working at the company as long as our oldest scout leader here has been in scouting. (He started as an "underground" cub scout in 1941, during the war, when scouting was illegal.) But he wasn't 18 when he started. She really hit an honorable age!
I was really confused by this because I thought somebody else had posted it, and even went to Google to see when scouting was illegal in the U.S. before I went back, saw your name, and realized it would have been occupied France...
He has some great stories to tell about scouting during the war and just after. He will be visiting the summer camp in July (maybe his last time, his health isn't good) and we are going to do an extensive, recorded interview of him and his wife (who didn't start until 1944, I believe -- she is in even worse health than he is, but she will also be coming to the camp), as part of a project on the history of Protestant scouting in France. We figure we better get a useable record of their accounts before it's too late. Their grandson is one of the scoutmasters who will actually be working with the kids (I'll mostly be doing administration and organization; I'm not as old as those two, but I'm still not in any shape any more to run out into the woods with the kids). We also have as leaders in a three other groups brothers who are fourth-generation scouts; their great-grandfather started almost as soon as Baden-Powell invented it! (Both of their grandfathers are still living, and both were scouts from their youth, and they are also on the list of interviews to be done before it's too late.)
I worked in a small rural hospital. We had an elderly man who was brought in with a stroke. His wife was in poor health at home and couldn't come in. He died with nothing but hospital staff to sit with him. His children were in their 70s and in ill health. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren were too far away. Sad, really. He had a large extended family, but he still died alone. Except for his nurse, who held his hand while he passed.
I just don't want to be a financial or emotional burden on anyone if I ever get in poor health and I'm too old to live fully anyway. That's not natural IMO. When I retire I'm just going to start doing dangerous shit. Worse case scenario I don't get killed but at least I'll have some good stories - if I write them down before I forget them.
I admire those clock punchers. Every time I find myself caring, I ultimately get burned. How I wish I could just clock in, clock out, and not give a shit.
^Yeah, in 33 years at this place, it's become painfully obvious that "the company" only cares about numbers. Every time there's a layoff it's obvious they're not considering WHO they're laying off or how loyal they are, or what they contribute. It's all numbers. Hell, I saw that in the fist big layoff I was here for, maybe 10 years after I joined. I've been a clock-puncher ever since. Not a moment of my time extra, not a bit of extra effort. It won't matter.
Yep. I've done projects that saved the company thousands of dollars versus having to go "outside the company" to get it done and management didn't care. Other people on my crew have done this too. But the whole contracting system is so complicated that individual money saving victories mean nothing it seems. There are MILLIONS of dollars changing hands and getting siphoned off nation-wide. It can get depressing.
The last layoffs took: Our department's job shopper, who helped EVERYone, and left the print shop with ONE operator (who can no longer take vacations!), our proposal coordinator with no help, and me with no standby photographer. Our web designer/proposal formatter/photographer/security custodian, leaving our one remaining word processor swamped and ME the prime photographer and security custodian. Our second word processor and "supply sergeant", again leaving the last WP swamped and us going directly to the boss for supplies. And, ya know, 50 other people around the building who did stuff that other people now have to double-up on.
