. Gary once again began the pursuit of employment, scanning the help wanted section of the Modesto Bee, searching for suitable vocation, discovering a sundry of opportunities. Finding an interesting prospect, journeying to Oakdale to submit an application and interview for a flight cargo coordinator position with Sierra West Aviation, an air freight carrier based at the Oakdale Airport. The Oakdale audience was a formality, filling out an employee application, submitting a resume’, being briefed, the post entailed preparing manifests, coordinating airport pickups and delivery for arrivals and departures at various destinations. Gary having experienced this coordination with the John Deere Company, having provided for custom cutter customers on the Harvest Trail. The interview coming to a conclusion, the outcome coming as expected, “we’ll get back to you”. The following morning an unexpected call for a second interview, but this time with the operations manager. Arriving, Gary again related his past John Deere experience in preparing manifests, inventory paperwork, coordinating and confirming pickup and delivery. The interview completed, leaving with a feeling of confidence, the prospects for acquiring the position was beginning to look good, but a phone call the next morning brought disappointment, his employment search to continue.
. The search for employment endured, Gary’s savings in the bank still a lone provision for their livelihood, Fran joining the pursuit of employment discovering a help wanted ad for the McHenry Avenue Dollar Tree. Acknowledging her prior years of service in Florida, she was immediately hired, working the early morning shift, commencing at 4 A M, accepting incoming freight, restocking the shelves. Fran being a non driver and with no public transportation at that hour, Gary found himself on the morning shift, providing her early morning transportation to work and her return in the afternoon. Continuing his search, he interviewed with a company accessing inventory, putting a team of inventory data people together, to count shelf items in stores. The morning paper giving notice for a maintenance position at the Modesto Parkway Plaza Wall Mart store.
. That afternoon found him driving across town to the Park Plaza store, seeking out the Human Resource person, attaching his type written resume’ to a filled out Wall Mart employment application. The next morning he received a call from the inventory company notifying him of his acceptance, and scheduling a meeting day and time. No sooner had he got off the phone, he received a second call, it was Wall Mart, the Human Resource lady asking if he could be available for an interview at 2 P M. The afternoon Wall Mart interview with H R was brief, and as before received the standard answer “we’ll notify you”. Returning home he was undecided whether to just go ahead and follow up with the inventory position when the phone rang again, it was Wall Mart, his orientation and employment would commence in the morning. Gary was amazed, two job confirmations in one day, but more amazing was the expediency of Wall Mart’s hiring, neither position high paying, but at least a working opportunity.
. Wall Mart’s process for hiring was a new experience, a drug test, a signature for permission to acquisition his DMV and law enforcement records, accompanied with a scheduled computerized maintenance and safety test. Gary discovering the test somewhat inefficacious having to watch four hours of safety videos, then a five-part, ten question test about interactive maintenance procedure skills, most which were not relative. The orientation completed, Gary finding the hours were from 11:00 p m. to 7:30 a m in the morning in the 24 hour accessible store. The first evening on the job, discovering the crew of eight wasn’t contingent for performing actual maintenance, they were custodians, responsible for floors, restrooms and clean-up duties, vacuuming the offices and trash, all plumbing, lighting and other repair requirements were subcontracted out. Wall Mart having a single custodian person on duty during the day and early evening, responsible for cleaning up spills and cleanliness of restrooms and the lunch room. The Crew Chief assigning the night crew their work assignments, stripping and waxing various section of the floor, vacuuming the vast store area carpet, which could entail three hours, followed by a low-speed buffer top scrubbing of the carpet for stains, and riding the propane driven powered buffers over the vinyl flooring.
. The custodial experience was nothing new, having worked five years at the Kiowa Grade School as a custodian/driver, but he was more impressed with the work ethic of the other department employees, finding the managers of the various sales departments would arrive during the early morning hours, some as early as 5:00 A.M. to ready their department for the days expected traffic, filling inventories, rearranging and stocking the departments shelves.
. The store prevailed a representative Safety Committee, meeting once a month to discuss workman’s comp and safety issues, also offered as a benefit, stock offerings and medical insurance for all employees, designated as associates. For some, the only disparity being the hourly wage earners were required to clock out for their two 15 minute breaks, their off the clock time compensate. A 30 minute lunch being a normal clock out situation, Gary discovered clocking in and out for breaks as well as a 30 minute so-called lunch was to his advantage. By not taking any breaks he was able to combine the two 15 minute break allowances with his 30 minutes lunch, providing him an hour to clock out, stop at the Jack in the Box drive thru, drive home and have Fran at the Dollar Tree at 4 a m, and clock back in with his return. He realized that his Wall Mart maintenance $7.75 per hour employment was a dollar more than the Walmart starting wage, and 2 dollars more than minimum wage. But still was just a stop gap measure, determined to continue his search, attesting it was just a matter of time before he would encounter a more applicable precedence.
Inquisitive Quest 
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