|
I worked at a Great American Cookie shop in a mall from about age 16-18 while in high school and towards the beginning of college. The owner was a great guy. He owned the most franchises in the midwest for these little stores and you would never know it. He drove a beat up van from the 70s, wore tshirts from the 80s and loved every second of it. I guess the best thing about him was that he was genuinely interested in me as a person and not just another worker. I don't know why he liked me so much because he didn't really do most of these things for anyone else...
-He gave me advice with the ladies ("Listen Jay, you can have Saturday off for the prom but don't get anyone pregnant). The endless conversations with him were always hilarious and often times insightful. I learned more about business from him than any class would ever teach me. He had an MBA from Toledo University and dropped knowledge on me constantly. He allowed me to keep the books in order for our store and that was mind blowing for a 17 year old kid. The fact that he trusted me with knowing every little transaction that place did and letting me carry thousands of dollars to deposit in the bank every night showed what kind of relationship we had.
-He paid for my college books fairly often for no reason other than to be kind. He had me bring in the receipt from the book store (usually $600+) and he would then bonus me for em on my next check.
-He put me in the nicest hotel suite ever just to work a weekend managing a store an hour away. He paid for my food that weekend, travel, and gave me double per hour what I would normally make.
-He told me if I ever needed a letter of recommendation for anything he'd write in a heart beat. I never took him up on this offer, but I know for a fact I could come to him today and he'd still do it.
-He bought my lunch/dinner every time he came into the store. He would hand me a $20 and tell me to go on break (even if I had already taken my break).
-I had an open invitation to stay at his lake house in Michigan and fuck around with his jet skis.
-His wife was the biggest sweet heart you will ever meet. She would call me just to see how I was doing and she would often sent pictures of the kids etc. Just the nicest lady ever.
-Christmas time bonuses were huge for a kid making $10 an hour.
-Speaking of Christmas, one night we were absolutely slammed and I had to stay after closing time for 2 extra hours. It was just me and him decorating 50+ cakes to make sure they were ready for tomorrow. After we were finished he handed me a $50 and told me how much he appreciated the help.
Eventually I ended up leaving because college was taking up enough of my time. I felt bad for leaving, but I had to. He tried to get me back by encouraging me to finish college and then become a district manager at $50k - but at that time, finishing college seemed way far off in the distance (4 years obviously) and I couldn't see myself there for another 4 years even if it did mean I'd be guaranteed a job at the end. That and I didn't think people would take me seriously when I told them what I do for a living (regardless of whatever $$$ I would be earning). But yeah, that was the thing about him, his handouts were great but he also encouraged me to do well inside the store by offering incentives and to do well outside in the real world, thus telling me to finish college and then come work for him.
Fuck this was a long post and I'm sure a tl;dr for most, but that just starts to crack the surface on how awesome this guy was. I could write a ton of other stuff but that should give you a good idea on what sweet ass job I had as younger lad.
|