This Friday marked the final day of operation for the service center. I came out to say goodbye to the folks who have worked for our company, some of them for over 20 years. I know the difficulty of transitions, so I wanted it to be as soft a landing as possible for them. When I arrived on Thursday morning, I brought bagels, and told them I’d planned to bring lunch into the shop both Thursday and Friday. When I asked them what they wanted, they said Mister V’s Steakhouse… a bit pricey steakhouse katty corner from the shop. I told them I’d check out the prices and get back to them …. and I did. The compromise was this… if that’s really what they wanted, we’d do lunch only once.. on Friday. That’s what they really wanted.
We spent Thursday and Friday shipping the remaining items to our other service locations and preparing to auction off everything that isn’t needed somewhere else. I invited the guys to come back on Tuesday for the auction. On Friday morning, when I arrived at the office, the guys were like vultures, eager to ask me what I’d accept for this and that. It’s only fair they should have a first shot at what they wanted, so I entertained all of their bids. It was obvious to me that some of them had done their homework, and looked up what items might go for new, and offered fair prices for them. It also helped that they collected their last paychek today, and each of them came to work with a wad of cash to spend.. lol. At the end of the day, I think it was fruitful for them, and fruitful for us. I have labelled workbenches, racks, office supplies, lunch tables, microwaves, etc, for the auction on Tuesday.
Just after 11 AM, we walked over to the restaurant, and ate our last supper.
We enjoyed a nice lunch together and talked about each other’s families. It was a good way to spend the last day. I wish them all the best of luck and am happy to say that a many of them may be offered positions with a local company who does repairs. I hope they all land on their feet.
Best wishes!
SB
Journey-For-Life 