September 4.
September 4.
September 4.
“Why do I keep repeating that date over and over in my head?” I asked myself yesterday. “What is its relevance?”
This morning it clicked. Yesterday – September 4 – was my work anniversary. It’s been 34 years. September 4, 1990 was the exact date.
Or, 300 years, as I like to tell folks who still ask.
Some Things Have Not Changed
I still loathe getting up in the early morning hours.
I still wear gym shoes while commuting to the office.
I still brown bag it most days.
And I still drink my coffee black.
Ch.. Ch.. Changes
Of course, we all know the changes that have occurred over the last three decades. Technology has taken off like a rocket ship, and we’d better be holding on to its contrails, or we’ll be left out of the loop.
Here’s What I Remember…
Our law firm had five floors of office space at the time. Each office was filled. Each desk in the corridor was taken by an Assistant (Legal Secretary as it was called back then).
Mailroom personnel made approximately five daily runs on the floors, collecting inter-office mail, courier packages, FedEx envelopes. Our number one mail item was business correspondence, typed on embossed stationery with a watermark. We creased them into the standard business tri-fold and placed them within a No. 10 envelope — also embossed our our law firm’s logo.
Items were delivered to each and every one of us. A daily bulletin was printed and distributed, covering the day’s news, the court docket, and personal news such as work anniversaries or congratulations on a co-worker’s newborn baby.
Smokers Unite
There were no rules for smoking. If your co-worker smoked next to you, you dealt with it. Truly, the smoke wasn’t too bothersome, since we were all used to it permeating our space.
A few years later, smoking laws went into effect. Our employer dutifully complied by reserving two smaller offices to be used for lighting up.
Quickly, the walls inside those tiny rooms lost their white paint color and took on a dull yellow hue. The doors would open and one could watch the smoke tendrils waft through the air and wander outside into the corridors.
I myself utilized those smoke rooms. Not to have a cigarette break. Instead, I chatted with my smoking friends and shared a laugh with them while we caught up on the latest gossip. Good times.
We Hobnobbed a Lot More
We walked through the corridors, saying Hello to those we passed. We utilized the elevators and stairs often, as we had to visit a colleague on a different floor in order to have an in-person discussion.
We retrieved courier packages from the front Reception Desk. And we visited the Duplicating Department often, waiting on urgent faxes to slowly roll off the fax machine.
In fact, I recall a survey was once distributed — on paper! — to each office worker:
The Firm is re-assessing its business resources.
Do you require two fax machines on each floor?
YES □ or NO □
It appeared we all marked YES, since three weeks later, additional fax machines appeared on each floor. Such technological progress! What joy to be had!
We Talked — and Laughed — Often
One afternoon while in the office, a tune ran through my head, over and over on a loop.
Don’t you, forget about me
Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t
Don’t you, forget about me
“Who sings that song from The Breakfast Club movie?” I asked several of my co-workers. “It’s driving me nuts trying to figure it out!”
Quickly, that inquiry became the Question of the Day in our office. It was our diversion. Our relief from the mundane. It was how we entertained ourselves during an 8-hour workday.
Since we didn’t have Google, we wracked our brains trying to recall the artist group who sang that catchy tune.
One girl finally gave up and phoned a friend, who happily supplied us with the answer…
And that, my friends, is how we did it back in 1990.
Thank you for reading – PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST
PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST 