Humbled & Grateful after Fifteen Years

In the month and year of July 2000, an elderly man decided to buy a chicken dinner from the Deli Department of a local grocery store, a spot he would often pass on his way home from work for a railroad company.  For some weird reason, he asked the wise-cracking, 20-something deli clerk behind the counter one question:  "Can you type?"  The rest is a Karma Reaper love story with Lady Luck.

I showed up to a hiring session where the only criteria was to be able to type 35 words minimum per limit.  65 people showed up for a job not knowing 1) it was not a field position 2) it was a clerical (Clerk) job where typing fast was a requirement and 3) there was going to be drug testing prior to hiring.  Once this was known there was only 7 people left to interview.  Lady Luck not only smiled on my professional career that day, She gave me her hotel room key.

Less than a month later, I turned in my apron at the grocery store deli and became a railroader.  Lady Luck and I have been Friends With Benefits ever since.  I was lucky to be at the store that day and wait on that elderly man.  Grateful is too weak of a word to describe how appreciative I am to have worked with this company for more than a decade and a half.

Two years into working in the Transportation Department as a third-shift Clerk, Lady Luck decided I should move over to the Engineering Department, a group that put up with me for the next dozen years of my railroad career.  Although the engineering projects were challenging, I gravitated towards projects that eliminated grade crossings and crossing hazards, making them safer.  Afterwards, the Safety & Environmental Department called my name in the month and year June 2015 and I was promoted to new role.

I give all of the credit to Lady Luck because my "talent" really only boils down to "Can you type?"  One golden opportunity presented itself and I took full advantage of it for the next 15 years of my life.  I am humbled by the people who continue to work along beside me and grateful for all of the opportunities that I have been presented working for this railroad company.  My joke with my wife is that she'd rather sleep with Mr. Sandman than with me.  I hope she won't divorce me for continuing my affair with Ms. Lady Luck.

It's been a great 15 years.  I'm looking forward to the next 15!