Cashier-In-Training

I absolutely HATE the training process for a new job.

This was brought home to me again a couple of weeks ago as I waited in line at my local Winco, and again a day or two later at Walmart, and observed a new cashier in one of her first days of training. I felt so sorry for both of these ladies, I remember how hard it is to train for a new job.

It's hard enough to start a new job anyway, because there's usually so much to learn. But once you've received a minimal amount of "training," you're expected to perform while being watched like a hawk by your trainer. And in the case of retail, not only are you watched by the trainer, but by every person who comes through your line. And of course you're going to be slower than you will be someday when you're fully trained and have been working for a while. And human nature being what it is, there are going to be some impatient, in-a-hurry people who want to buy their goods and beat it to their next destination.

My first real job was as a Reports Clerk and Secretary at National Auto Parts. I was only 18, fresh out of business school and ready to take the world by storm. The lady who was quitting and whose job I was taking over was older--in fact her daughter went to the same high school I had graduated from, although a couple years behind me. My job entailed being secretary to the General Manager, Sales Manager, and Office Manager, as well as compiling reports at the end of the month (and after all these years I can't even remember what this was all about anymore). As I sat at the typewriter (dark ages--before computers) and typed up the letters from the dictaphone or compiled and typed up the reports, the lady sat beside me, watching every move, correcting me every time I did something wrong. If I remember right, she stayed at my elbow for about two weeks before leaving, and turning me out on my own. I'm sure she thought I'd blow it all and be fired. But you know what?? Once she was no longer at my elbow, I was able to do the job well enough that after a few months I was looking for more work. I also learned and helped with the payroll and some accounting procedures, and sometimes went to the Purchasing room and helped post orders on the inventory cards. Co-workers told me that I was MUCH faster than "Blanche."

Fast-forward about 10 years to my next "major" job, with Hughes Airwest. I took an Airline training course, then went to work for the same school. To make a long story short, I ended up working for this airline in Seattle, thanks to my contact through the school. There was a good deal of training involved at this job--first to learn the computer system that processed airline reservations, then the protocol for taking customer calls and making reservations. Part of the process involved listening to another agent as he/she handled each call. Then he/she listened to ME do the same thing, offering comments at the completion of the call if need be. This process lasted several weeks before I was turned loose on my own. Without someone listening to my every word (besides the caller, that is), I did MUCH better.

Recently, I had the opportunity to undergo some more "on the job training." My husband's boss asked me if I'd like to make a little extra money, as he needed extra help and was hiring. One of my new responsibilites, the only one I've been trained for thus far, involves entering real estate properties onto the web site. A job I can do at home, even though now all my kids are grown that's not so important anymore. After one hour of training by a lady who didn't hover, or at least give the appearance of hovering, I was turned loose with the CD of information I needed to enter to the web site. This was probably the easiest training session I had ever gone through. Either she was a good trainer, the job was so easy it didn't take much training, or finally--after all these years--I've learned to overcome my hangups with on the job training. I suspect it's all of the above. The job IS simple; the lady probably knew after a few minutes that we had enough computer skills that she didn't need to worry; and after all of these years, I know I can handle most any job (short of brain surgery) so no worries there! And I'm now older than anyone who's going to be training me, so no need to feel intimidated.

As a final comment, if you are in a line at the store and realize YOUR cashier is being trained, please be patient! Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you have either already undergone--or will some day undergo--the training process.

You may have been--or may become--a CASHIER-IN-TRAINING!

Take Me Home, Country Roads.....But Watch Your Speed

One day last week I had the opportunity to go with my husband as he drove one of his delivery routes. I like to go on the Longview/Castle Rock run. It's a chance to relax, enjoy the scenery, and get lunch out. It had been a pleasant day with lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Longview. We were on the home stretch, which my husband tags "The Ridge Run." From LaCenter you take off up narrow, winding country roads; off the hurry hurry of Interstate 5. Supposedly.

A couple different times cars would swoop down on us as we were doing about 45-50 mpg (posted limit for most of the road is 45 except for the curves). The opportunities to pass are limited because of the curves, so they had to content themselves with riding our bumper until either they turned off, or there was a spot to pass.

There are several stops along this road, one called the View Market, the other Fargher Lake Grocery, before coming into the "booming" metropolis of Amboy, where there are several more delivery stops. Before we could get to Amboy, we came upon a small lineup of cars, stopped because of an apparent accident. We could see a tow truck ahead, and about 3-4 minutes into our wait, a fire truck came around us to get to the front of the lineup of cars, and to assist in the accident. As we watched and commented about what could have happened, Don could see that it looked like a vehicle had gone into a ditch. As we watched the tow truck prepare to drag it out, we realized it was a rollover accident, and it was a pickup truck. We wondered how it happened, if anyone was hurt--the usual stuff.

The tow truck driver applied it's cables, turned the pickup over and drug it out onto the road. Then he hooked it up for the tow back into town. Once he was out of the way, traffic began to move again, more slowly this time. As we passed the actual scene, a young couple stood along side of the road, looking rather dazed and stunned. Ahah! We said. This must be the people who were in the pickup. There were no other crunched vehicles along side the road, and from the number of cars ahead of us (about 8), the accident couldn't have happened too much before we got there. It must have been a case of too much speed and the driver lost control. Or, being more charitable, perhaps he dodged an animal and ended up rolling his truck.

At any rate, a sobering lesson for those of us caught up in this traffic backup. The couple appeared uninjured, for which they can be very thankful. Their pickup was pretty crunched, will probably be totaled.

There's a reason for lower speed on windy country roads. And when you come upon someone doing the speed limit on one of these roads, back off, slow down, and enjoy the ride.

School of Life

The other day as I was contemplating an upcoming assignment to teach a class on Vital Records at my local Genealogoical Society, I began thinking about what I would want on my introductory bio. I don't know if you have been to a genealogy conference or seminar before, but the usual opening is for the moderator to introduce the speaker and give a brief resume of his or her accomplishments in the field of genealogy. This includes college degrees, advanced training, experience, etc. I got to thinking about what I would put on my resume if I'm asked to provide one.

College degrees? Does graduation from an airline school with the placement of #1 in my class count for anything? Well, probably not, as far as genealogy goes.

Am I a Certified Genealogist? Well, no, not really.

What experiences have brought me to this point? Well, I guess I could say that doing genealogy (aka family history research) for the past 38 years counts for something, and that my experiences in this field all come from what I like to call "The School of Life."

I further began to contemplate my accomplishments, and the accomplishments of many people whom I have known over the years.

Take the computer (no, please don't, I'd be lost without it). When I worked for a major airline 22+ years ago, computers and word processessing were fairly new. Towards the end of my six-year career in the airline industry, I realized that if I wanted to go to work in an office setting again, I'd probably need to go back to school for that computer and/or word processessing training. Fast-forward to about eleven years ago when we bought our first home computer, then continue fast-forwarding to present day, and I realized that through the "School of Life" I have pretty good computer and word processing skills, learned not in a classroom, but as I used my computer for various projects. I've done newsletters for PTA, church, and now for the Sweet Adelines Chorus I belong to. Better still, the "School of Life" doesn't cost much extra, unless you count for things like a computer or any other tool that you use on a daily basis.

My husband is also a graduate of "The School of Life." He's fairly handy with tools, handy enough that you could count on one hand the number of times any of our cars have gone to a mechanics shop in 38+ years of marriage, and the only time one of our appliances made it to the shop was a washing machine which was still under warranty. Has he had special schooling for this? Not on your tintype! He learned from observing his father, learned from books, learned from doing. He's one of these people who sits down with a book, then goes out to the garage and goes from there. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of money he has saved us over the years in repair bills!

My father-in-law was skilled in many areas, yet never had any special training, than the experience life handed him. He was an accomplished photographer and ran several photo processing plants for most of his career. He started off as a musician, a country western singer & guitarist. He built furniture and cabinets. He could keep cars running. Probably a lot more skills that I can't remember any more, as well. He had a doctorate from "The School of Life."

My dad started as a ranch hand before working for the railroad. His railroading career was interrupted by WWII. His war training was in mechanics, and somewhere along the way he learned welding and fabricating. He worked for more than 25 years as a welder for a steel company. He built boat trailers for the boats he owned, and for friends; they were sturdier and better than anything you could buy. He built a trailer for his 23 foot boat while it was in the water, and when it was completed and the boat put on it, he only had to adjust one roller for it to be "perfect." My dad also received a doctorate from "The School of Life."

It used to be you didn't go to school to learn something before embarking on your career. You were trained "on the job," or your skills came about because of what you had already done. And you didn't learn just one skill, but many. Much different than our time.

"The School of Life" has been around for as long as mankind has been around. Our fathers and grandfathers; mothers and grandmothers, were graduates. In most cases they have passed down to us their knowledge. I hope we were paying attention. I hope we will continue to pass on our knowledge to our children and grandchildren. Some day, we may all need the lessons learned in "The School of Life."

Much Ado About "Much"

I am really terrible about keeping a journal, which is a good idea if we want our children and grandchildren to know what went on in our lives. How many of us would give our eye teeth to have a journal of our parents or grandparents, to know what their lives were like, how they felt about things, what was going on in their lives and in the world? I know I would! I feel thankful to have a few writings from my mother--a couple of stories she wrote for a creative writing class, and 4 stenographer's notebooks (remember those?) where she briefly noted any exciting event in her life (got a new TV, went to the doctor's, drove to the coast).

So, here's my attempt at keeping a journal of sorts--a blog, if you will. I may not be the most clever writer, but perhaps that will come with time.

Enjoy!