Out of College

Saying goodbye to my friends and roommates at the end of my senior year was really hard. I remember standing in the parking lot behind our apartment with my girlfriend watching Craig, and then Andy, drive away. It was even worse when Meg left to go home. Everyone had either gone to another city for a job, entered the military, or gone home. Only Paul stayed around, but we lost touch and it would be a year before we reconnected. The only consolation was that I had made friends outside of the university...at the Monroe County Department of Social Services.

I found an apartment that I shared with one of my college friend's sisters, who was attending medical school at the University. Yes, my roommate was a girl. Nothing was going on, but my mother was not happy. Anyway, at least I had a place to live. For work, I continued as an accounts payable clerk by day and a janitor by night. I got the night job because Curtis - who worked with me in Accounts Payable - also owned a custodial services company (connections are so important!). At first, I worked part-time, but eventually I gave up my job at MCDSS and worked for Curtis full-time. I typically worked the 5pm to midnight shift. We also did industrial clean-ups on weekends. My record for paid hours in one week was 81; that record still stands! One of my responsibilities was to clean the operating room at a medical facility. We had to scrub up and dress in operating room apparel before entering the room. I remember picking up sutures off the floor with my bare hands; not the smartest thing to do in 1985 during the AIDS epidemic, but getting infected never occurred to me. God protected me in my stupidity.

While working for Curtis, I picked up a second job as a lot man at a local Dodge dealership. I was responsible for prepping cars for customers, off-loading cars from the car transport, washing cars, and other exciting duties. I remember one time, it was pouring rain and I was running across the lot with a box of keys that I had to take back to the office. I slipped, fell, and spilled about 50 sets of keys all over the asphalt. Not my best moment. With both jobs, I was working about 70 hours a week. After a month I realized I couldn't keep up the pace and ended my automotive career at Cortese Dodge.

I continued to work as a janitor until September 1986 when Paul and I decided to quit our jobs and tour the United States. With my paltry savings, I bought a 1977 Mercury Marquis station wagon and we left to see the country. Two months later, we were back in Rochester. It was time to find another job.