Sooooo Not A Motorcycle.....

At the furniture showroom, during my first week, I met Harley. Harley was a distinguished gentleman....he had a hearing aid and had gray hair, had incredibly funny inappropriate jokes, and I just knew we were gonna be good friends.

Harley was an installer - that means he was one of the guys that loaded the furniture onto a truck, made sure he had all the tools to get the job done, got to the job site, greeted the clients, unloaded the furniture, put it all together, and made sure the clients were happy before he left. And Harley was no spring chicken - but he had amazing strength and a great manner with the clients. (Many of our return clients specifically requested him.) 

One of many things I learned at the showroom was that furniture came in pieces. (Silly me! I thought that chairs, desks, and tables came in assembled. OOO Lordy, was I wrong! A desk can have a dozen or so parts that, together, make it complete. Even chairs - who'da thunk it?! - come in unassembled.) Part of our job was making sure we had all the pieces to put it together (like Humpty Dumpty). ; - )

So my job, as an Administrative Sales Administrator, was to create quotes for clients. Then, if they approved the quote, I turned the quote into an order. Then, as part of the ordering process, I scheduled the delivery for the client. Lastly, I emailed the client to let them know when they could expect to see us on-site for delivery and setup. 

Once the parts were received on-site - generally a week ahead of our install date - they were checked for accuracy against our order. If there were any problems, like parts were missing, or something got damaged in shipment - that week's delay allowed us time to proactively "fix it" before it got to the client. 

Generally, the day of the install, Harley would place his calls to clients - letting them know what his schedule for the day looked like and juggling times if he could. 

I told you all that about the "biz" - so I could relate this. Harley came to see me every morning before he went out on the road and every evening when he came back (unless he was doing a late install). He did it in such a manner that I thought he was just checking with me and the other Admins to say hi.

I didn't think anything of it until one day Stephanie joked with him that he was "just checking on his girlfriend," and shot a look back at me. What? Huh?! The man was older, married, and we were just friends. Period. What was she talking about? Harley didn't bat an eyelash, just threw some attitude back to her. 

Lo and behold, later that same week, Harley asked me if I was on Facebook. I was - and I am - and so, after work we friended each other and that was when I really "met" Harley. Whoa! The guy was hysterical - private as all heck - but lonely. He and his wife had been married a long time - 25 years! I just want to stop this train right here: we were - and are - just friends. 

We talked on Facebook - after work - for hours, about anything and everything. I related my "sob story" as by then, I'd labeled it. He talked about his age in this industry (he was 68) - and the fact that he wasn't working because he "needed" the money - he had built he and his wife a comfortable nest egg. As an ADD/HD sufferer, Harley just needed to keep moving. He told me that he had quit before - all of a month! - but found himself going stir crazy at home so he went back to work. 'Nuff said.

In one of our discussions, Harley said that Stephanie had mentioned to him - more than once - that she knew he liked me and what was he gonna do about it? Harley told her that yes, we were friends, and essentially told her to back off (in a totally polite, yet irreverent way). He gave me a little backstory on Stephanie, too.

It seems our down-to-earth, God-fearing, yet tattooed Stephanie was a reformed "bad girl." In fact, it turns out that her oldest daughter is the product of a relationship with a jailed boyfriend. So Stephanie the bad girl projects her inner badness to Harley by thinking that he is going to throw away 25 years of marriage by having an affair with a much-younger Admin. (Stephanie, by the way, is now happily married to a fellow that she met in bible study.)

He goes on to tell me that he is also getting raised eyebrows, spoken comments, and written comments on his Facebook profile from the other admin - Cyndy - too. It seems that Cyndy is a born-again upstanding Christian woman and worries that he has ulterior motives for his daily visits to us. 

(You remember Cyndy from my earlier posts, right?) The woman who was "much too busy to help me" - *E*V*E*R*...... 

So we nipped them both in the bud. He unfriended Cyndy from his Facebook profile and began stopping by just once a day. We continued our discussions on Facebook, building a friendship - away from prying eyes. 

When I got fired, he was floored. He had no inkling of Stephanie's plan.

But Harley would turn out to be another great part of 2013; a true friend, one of a handful who truly came through for me when I was at my absolute lowest point.

O wise woman, what say you?

At the shelter, Janet was one of three customer service reps. These three women tirelessly answered phones and assisted walk-in citizens with pet-related concerns. These concerns ranged from finding, capturing, and bringing in stray dogs and cats to tagging adopted shelter animals to listening to complaints from angry ticketed pet owners. The shelter's "front line," they receive the lion's share of citizen contact. 

Janet was the newest and friendliest of the three. A consummate professional, Janet answered questions, assisted citizens in filling out pet adoption papers, and was a definite people person. Always with a smile, a good attitude, and a kind word, she was the one people waited to speak with. If she didn't know the answer, she would spend the extra time to find out.

As I often passed through the lobby from Kathi's desk back to my desk at the Adoption Center, I came to recognize her voice, hear the compassion in her answers, and respect the "good vibes" she gave off.  As I've mentioned in previous postings, I'm generally the sort of person to observe first before uttering a word. My cautious nature went out the window last year, however, and I found myself taking time out between trips chatting up Janet when she was free.

Janet was a happy person. That is not to say that she wasn't dealing with her own problems; she was. The shelter paid beans compared to what she had made in her previous career - but she enjoyed the animals, the atmosphere, and the customers. Her extraordinary spirit, good nature, and positive outlook was a ray of sunshine. In short, she made you feel comfortable; I found myself sharing my sob story with her, something I hadn't shared with anyone other than Kathi. And funny! Janet was a hoot - always with a funny anecdote or a sly grin, she made you feel as if she was your own personal comedianne! I kept telling her she ought to do stand-up - to which she responded that the pay wasn't as good as what the shelter paid us. ((wink wink))

I rarely left the shelter for lunch due to lack of funds, preferring instead to eat leftovers at my desk. However, Janet went out of her way to extend invitations to come back to her home with her for lunch. She lived close by the shelter and ate with her three doggies every day. So I brought my leftovers to Janet's home and we "talked shop" about the shelter and some of the personalities we dealt with on a daily basis.

In fact, it was during one of those lunches that she mentioned CONNECT, a sort-of job placement meeting where unemployed people met, discussed placement strategies, compared notes, improved their resumes, and networked with others. At Janet's prodding, I went to the next meeting; networked; had my picture taken; and subsequently interviewed at my current place of employ. (Of course, Kathi had a hand in that decision, too, as I've previously mentioned, but it was Kathi *and* Janet that got me through those dark months last year.)

Janet, if you're reading this, I hope you know this; you have touched my heart and I love you, girl!