Above is how it was that I got into a Yamaha dealership.
The owner had three techs, two of which who couldn't seem to tie their shoelaces,and the comeback work had become staggering. One day he invited me out to lunch and set forth an offer.. I said no I have a job. A few weeks later, he upped the ante, and again I said no, I have a job. A third time he came, and said name your price. Again I said No.... but if the job I have dies, I'll come. A short while later, the place I was working at,don't you know it, filed Chapter 13 and suddenly I became a free agent. So off to Yamaha I toddled. We hatched a deal,and it was time to prove my worth. The first thing I did was get rid of those two bozos that were sinking the ship (cuz their wages were now mine). Then I cleaned up the come-backs, and attacked the rest.To be sure,there was a staggering amount of both work overtime.We became viable;customer faith was restored,and the former Honda clientele had come on board.The Service Dept was caught up, new work was flooding in, Sales had picked up,and we had hired two more employees. Finally my boss was making money.
And so; now at 58 or so, I'm thinking, I'm finally on top of the world;all set to cruise thru retirement; God is good.
Then it happened again. Chapter 13.
Ya know God, I said,How many times are we gonna do this? I'm gettin' too old to keep starting over. Just give me any old crap job............ Lemmee tell ya;Be careful when you saychit like that to God....... The next two years were just that. One day, after much deliberation, I packed up my tools and vamoosed.
Ya know God, I said, I mightabin a bit sassy last time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your goodness; Put me where you want me. A month later I had a FTPT semi-retirement type job that keeps me fit and strong, and provides many hours of on-the-job, paid, Bible-Study time; God is good. That is going on five years ago. It ain't glamorous, but there's no stress, it's easy work, and it's something I can keep doing until all my allotted days are done. It's a government job,working for the Municipality in which I live,and it's within walking distance so one car is retired. And so, Ima thinking, maybe, just maybe I've seen my last Chapter 13;God is good.
So I went and got me a dog, young enough to live for at least as long as I can bend over and clean up after him,lol.
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As to Chapter 13s; Sheesh; there have been a lot of those. A quick tally points to nearly 70% of all places I have worked at went Chapter 13. I kept telling prospective employers "don't hire me if you want to stay in business; Chapter 13 follows me around like stink on a skunk".
In fact,over the past 50 years, of all the places I have ever worked at for more than about three months, only four are still in business. One is that TireShop. And another went on to become a major automotive retailer named Canadian Tire; a big deal up here now, but just budding when I started in 68 or69. I sold parts there for over three years. I got a big fat head, heavy with hundreds of part numbers and locations, and cross-referenced applications.That first store had the Greatest Boss I ever worked for.God is good.
