CHAPTER SIX - PRIME TIME
We had a C-130 that had a throttle cable snap while doing "touch and go's" at Ft. Campbell in 1986. The plane crashed while landing and killed the pilot, navigator, and load master. Two crewmen survived. One was the co-pilot who only had minor burns on his face because he was able to run out through the rear of the plane and away from the flames. The other four were engulfed in flames and the one crewman who survived the flames underwent months of treatment at Brook Army Burn Center in San Antonio Texas. I was the chapel song leader and honored when they asked me to lead the singing at the memorial for the three men who had died. The only problem was that they asked me to prepare two songs that I had never heard of in my life and I can't read music. The songs were Our God of Ages Past and My Faith Looks Up To Thee.
Our God of Ages Past was the opening song and for some reason no matter how much I practiced I could not get that song in my head. All four local television channels had a camera in my face. The service was held in a big hanger with a large crowd that included the family members of the dead Airmen, most of the members of the 105th Air Wing, dignitaries, State Adjutant General Carl Wallace and then Governor Lamar Alexander. As I sat there I began to panic because I had no clue how the song started in my mind. All I could see was myself looking like a complete and total fool in front of all those people and the television audience at home. I weighed that, however; against the fact that my problem was small compared to those families that had lost loved ones. I said a quick prayer and God came through for me that day. As soon as I began, the song came back to me.
I had been a supervisor at Cumberland-Swan for about six months when my supervisor, who I will call Bill, was demoted and a new man took his place. This new man, who I will call Bob, gave me a bad feeling from the very start. He had the look of a person that could stab you in the back with a big grin on his face the whole time. My old supervisor Bill wasn't anything to write home about. He was wishy washy and scared of his own shadow. I had heard that he had witnessed a supervisor murdered on the job after that supervisor had disciplined an employee at Cumberland-Swan's old Nashville location years before. One could understand his paranoia but it was frustrating whenever I had to get his approval to write someone up. On one occasion I had his permission to write up a utility man that was constantly laying out. When I gave the man the warning letter he ripped it up and threw it in my face. After he went to my supervisor Bill about the letter he lost his nerve and told me not to write him up. There was another man who was an absolute fruit cake and a twenty year military veteran. I hate to say this but at Swan we had several career military veterans and they were some of my most difficult employees I had to supervise. I was a little scared of this guy myself but I don't like to be bullied. In my opinion this guy was acting crazy more as a way to intimidate than anything else. I didn't put up with his crap.
One day I asked him to do something and he went off on me right in front of Bill. I looked at Bill for support but instead he turned on me. As usual Bill was terrified of the crazy guy. Even with Bill's faults I felt like he liked me and was not out to get me. Bob on the other hand did not like me and he quickly had me black-balled with upper management. He called me into his office one day and told me he was giving me a lateral promotion, which was a demotion to me. My heart sank because he wasn't giving me any more money and he was putting me into what I considered to be a nearly impossible situation. I would now be a compounding supervisor instead of a production supervisor. Next to being fired this was the absolute worst news that I could have received and I was overwhelmed. Pressing aspirin and saccharine was one thing but I was totally unsuited to supervise the compounding department. Or at least I thought so at the time. I found out later that Bob put me there hoping I would fail and then he could then get rid of me. Bob had spies watching me from within the compounding department and they were reporting back to him. I noticed a change in how people were treating me. They seemed to be avoiding me and treating me like a leper. Because I didn't know what I was doing I screwed up a couple of formula's each worth hundreds of dollars. In my mind my days were numbered and I was going to be fired. I would go into the restroom every chance I got and just sit in a stall for as long as I could get away with it or find some other hiding place. It felt like the walls had eyes and everyone was watching me.
I couldn't trust anyone and this went on for what seemed like forever but it was probably only a couple of months. I prayed a lot during this time for the Lord to deliver me from this situation. It was my prayer that God would help me find a better job. I was so desperate to leave that I was even willing to take a cut in pay and I tried to get into law enforcement. If I had my life to do over I would have avoided manufacturing jobs and gone into a career in law or in law enforcement. I put in an application for the uniformed Secret Service in Washington D.C. and an application for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The Secret Service paid 20,000 dollars a year, which was what I was being paid by Swan. I would be at a definite disadvantage because I would have to pay higher rent in or around Washington and the cost of living was much greater there. In addition I would have to pay for the move. When I went to interview with them they were very impressed that I had never drank alcohol or taken drugs. They spent a lot of time grilling me on this. It was almost like they didn't believe me. They also asked why I would be so willing to make such a move to Washington for the same money that I was making at Swan. I was honest when I told them that I was very unhappy in my job and because of my military police experience I would like to get back into law enforcement.
It soon became obvious that they didn't want to hire me because they felt like it would put me in a precarious financial position. In other words, I would be vulnerable to bribery or corruption. I just wanted a chance because I knew I could pull it off but it wasn't going to happen. Debbie and I had gone through much worse in Oregon and Florida. The Highway Patrol was much more promising, however. I only missed one question on their test and I made it to the panel interview. By the time that this happened, however; my situation at work had improved dramatically. One day I learned that my tormentor, Bob, was being promoted to Human Resources and a guy named Mike was replacing Bob. I got a different vibe from Mike. He treated me with a lot more respect and I got the feeling he actually liked me. Mike called me in to his office one day. I can't remember his exact words but it was something like this. He said Greg, I am going to be honest with you. Your value to management is pretty low right now. He told me that Bob had put me in compounding because he expected me to fail there. Mike then told me that I was a hard worker and he wanted to help me improve my standing within the company. It would be up to me to change my image but he would give me pointers on how to do it. I then asked him to take me out of compounding because I was more suited as a production supervisor. He said that he would try to make it happen.
One suggestion that Mike made was that I should began writing memos to upper management with ideas for improvement. He said that I should bombard them with memos so I would be noticed by management. After a few weeks he called me back to to his office. The memos were helping but he made me a surprising offer. They were creating a new third shift and wanted to put me in charge of it. He had good news and bad news for me. The good news was that I was going back to production and I would be the only supervisor on third shift. The bad news was that I would also be in charge of compounding. I didn't want to have anything to do with compounding. I did not realize at the time, however; that he was giving me a great opportunity to prove myself. I had an advantage that other production supervisors didn't have. When a line was being set up for a certain product, like alcohol, peroxide, witch hazel, citrate of magnesia and other products the production supervisor had to wait for compounding to connect the product to the line. As a compounding supervisor I could hook the line up myself and as quickly as I wanted to. I didn't have to wait for anyone, other than Quality Assurance to sign off in order to begin production.
Over time my production percentages continued to rise. I had third shift all to myself and I was getting the lions share of the credit for the numbers. My status with upper management changed dramatically and people were treating me with respect again and I was actually beginning to like the job. Then out of the blue I got a call from a friend who worked at the Tennessee Department of Employment Security. She asked if I would be interested in a job at Bridgestone Tire Company in Lavergne. Of course I said yes. In retrospect I wish that I had continued to pursue the job at the Highway Patrol. In the end I think I would have been happier. I came to loathe my job at Bridgestone before I retired in 2010. The starting pay at Bridgestone, however; was about 45,000 dollars a year with regular raises over the first six months of my employment. There was no way that I could turn down this opportunity. I began the interview process at Bridgestone . I made it through the first couple of interviews okay. It was the early Summer of 1987 and my Guard unit was going back to Gernany in July. I loved Germany and was looking forward to going back. Especially in the summer when it would be warm.
I was nervous because the next step in the interview process at Bridgestone was a panel interview and I was afraid that they would schedule it during the same two weeks that I would be in Germany. My fears were soon realized when I learned that the panel interview would be held right in the middle of my scheduled two week deployment. I called my commander and told him that my interview was during our camp and I couldn't be deployed. He was very unhappy and told me that if I didn't go he could not excuse my absence. My commander suggested that I ask Bridgestone if they could reschedule the interview. I did as he asked but they told me that if I missed the interview there was no guarantee if, or when, I would get another one. I just couldn't take that chance. It pained me to do it but I had tell my commander I couldn't go. As expected he was very upset and told me that my absence would be unexcused. I went to the interview and soon learned that I had been hired. After this I was scheduled for training. A year later in the summer of 1988, we were scheduled for two weeks of training at Hurlburt Field Florida. I was livid when I found out that several of the men in my unit were being excused from going to camp for Metro Nashville Police Academy. In a meeting they explained that it would hurt their career if they missed the Academy. I wondered how their career was more important than my career. This was when my attitude toward the Guard began to change.
One day I asked him to do something and he went off on me right in front of Bill. I looked at Bill for support but instead he turned on me. As usual Bill was terrified of the crazy guy. Even with Bill's faults I felt like he liked me and was not out to get me. Bob on the other hand did not like me and he quickly had me black-balled with upper management. He called me into his office one day and told me he was giving me a lateral promotion, which was a demotion to me. My heart sank because he wasn't giving me any more money and he was putting me into what I considered to be a nearly impossible situation. I would now be a compounding supervisor instead of a production supervisor. Next to being fired this was the absolute worst news that I could have received and I was overwhelmed. Pressing aspirin and saccharine was one thing but I was totally unsuited to supervise the compounding department. Or at least I thought so at the time. I found out later that Bob put me there hoping I would fail and then he could then get rid of me. Bob had spies watching me from within the compounding department and they were reporting back to him. I noticed a change in how people were treating me. They seemed to be avoiding me and treating me like a leper. Because I didn't know what I was doing I screwed up a couple of formula's each worth hundreds of dollars. In my mind my days were numbered and I was going to be fired. I would go into the restroom every chance I got and just sit in a stall for as long as I could get away with it or find some other hiding place. It felt like the walls had eyes and everyone was watching me.
I couldn't trust anyone and this went on for what seemed like forever but it was probably only a couple of months. I prayed a lot during this time for the Lord to deliver me from this situation. It was my prayer that God would help me find a better job. I was so desperate to leave that I was even willing to take a cut in pay and I tried to get into law enforcement. If I had my life to do over I would have avoided manufacturing jobs and gone into a career in law or in law enforcement. I put in an application for the uniformed Secret Service in Washington D.C. and an application for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The Secret Service paid 20,000 dollars a year, which was what I was being paid by Swan. I would be at a definite disadvantage because I would have to pay higher rent in or around Washington and the cost of living was much greater there. In addition I would have to pay for the move. When I went to interview with them they were very impressed that I had never drank alcohol or taken drugs. They spent a lot of time grilling me on this. It was almost like they didn't believe me. They also asked why I would be so willing to make such a move to Washington for the same money that I was making at Swan. I was honest when I told them that I was very unhappy in my job and because of my military police experience I would like to get back into law enforcement.
It soon became obvious that they didn't want to hire me because they felt like it would put me in a precarious financial position. In other words, I would be vulnerable to bribery or corruption. I just wanted a chance because I knew I could pull it off but it wasn't going to happen. Debbie and I had gone through much worse in Oregon and Florida. The Highway Patrol was much more promising, however. I only missed one question on their test and I made it to the panel interview. By the time that this happened, however; my situation at work had improved dramatically. One day I learned that my tormentor, Bob, was being promoted to Human Resources and a guy named Mike was replacing Bob. I got a different vibe from Mike. He treated me with a lot more respect and I got the feeling he actually liked me. Mike called me in to his office one day. I can't remember his exact words but it was something like this. He said Greg, I am going to be honest with you. Your value to management is pretty low right now. He told me that Bob had put me in compounding because he expected me to fail there. Mike then told me that I was a hard worker and he wanted to help me improve my standing within the company. It would be up to me to change my image but he would give me pointers on how to do it. I then asked him to take me out of compounding because I was more suited as a production supervisor. He said that he would try to make it happen.
One suggestion that Mike made was that I should began writing memos to upper management with ideas for improvement. He said that I should bombard them with memos so I would be noticed by management. After a few weeks he called me back to to his office. The memos were helping but he made me a surprising offer. They were creating a new third shift and wanted to put me in charge of it. He had good news and bad news for me. The good news was that I was going back to production and I would be the only supervisor on third shift. The bad news was that I would also be in charge of compounding. I didn't want to have anything to do with compounding. I did not realize at the time, however; that he was giving me a great opportunity to prove myself. I had an advantage that other production supervisors didn't have. When a line was being set up for a certain product, like alcohol, peroxide, witch hazel, citrate of magnesia and other products the production supervisor had to wait for compounding to connect the product to the line. As a compounding supervisor I could hook the line up myself and as quickly as I wanted to. I didn't have to wait for anyone, other than Quality Assurance to sign off in order to begin production.
Over time my production percentages continued to rise. I had third shift all to myself and I was getting the lions share of the credit for the numbers. My status with upper management changed dramatically and people were treating me with respect again and I was actually beginning to like the job. Then out of the blue I got a call from a friend who worked at the Tennessee Department of Employment Security. She asked if I would be interested in a job at Bridgestone Tire Company in Lavergne. Of course I said yes. In retrospect I wish that I had continued to pursue the job at the Highway Patrol. In the end I think I would have been happier. I came to loathe my job at Bridgestone before I retired in 2010. The starting pay at Bridgestone, however; was about 45,000 dollars a year with regular raises over the first six months of my employment. There was no way that I could turn down this opportunity. I began the interview process at Bridgestone . I made it through the first couple of interviews okay. It was the early Summer of 1987 and my Guard unit was going back to Gernany in July. I loved Germany and was looking forward to going back. Especially in the summer when it would be warm.
I was nervous because the next step in the interview process at Bridgestone was a panel interview and I was afraid that they would schedule it during the same two weeks that I would be in Germany. My fears were soon realized when I learned that the panel interview would be held right in the middle of my scheduled two week deployment. I called my commander and told him that my interview was during our camp and I couldn't be deployed. He was very unhappy and told me that if I didn't go he could not excuse my absence. My commander suggested that I ask Bridgestone if they could reschedule the interview. I did as he asked but they told me that if I missed the interview there was no guarantee if, or when, I would get another one. I just couldn't take that chance. It pained me to do it but I had tell my commander I couldn't go. As expected he was very upset and told me that my absence would be unexcused. I went to the interview and soon learned that I had been hired. After this I was scheduled for training. A year later in the summer of 1988, we were scheduled for two weeks of training at Hurlburt Field Florida. I was livid when I found out that several of the men in my unit were being excused from going to camp for Metro Nashville Police Academy. In a meeting they explained that it would hurt their career if they missed the Academy. I wondered how their career was more important than my career. This was when my attitude toward the Guard began to change.
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