Living the American Dream

by Frank Cereo

  “Well first of all Ricky I don’t lie. My mother taught me that. Secondly, what am I supposed to tell my supervisors when they ask me why I am moving into this itsy bitsy office? I told them the truth and I asked them not to tell anyone. It’s pretty hard not to know something is going on here.” I respond.

  Ricky walks out of my office unhappy but what do I care. I’m being terminated shortly with nowhere to go. The weeks pass by and so does my vacation. Soon it’s nearing the end of May. At this point Dan has moved into my office and he has taken almost all my responsibilities. There were many extra tasks that I had incorporated over the years that were going unattended. If Dan didn’t ask I didn’t supply any information. A week before the national operations meeting in Orlando, Ricky asked me if I made my reservations. I responded no because I didn’t receive an invite from corporate.

  “You are still an Ops Manager and you will attend the meeting.” Ricky in a demanding voice.

  “If you say so.” I reply.

  The same day an invite came for the national operations meeting. I filled out all the information and submitted it to corporate. Needless to say I attended the meeting and wasted my time along with the company’s money. When I got back to work the following week the only thing left on my plate was working with a vendor to install a proximity system. This system would allow certain people into certain areas and the administrator could monitor who was in the building at any given time. I worked side by side with the vendor as I data entered all the personal data into the computer. My responsibilities went from practically owning and operating five buildings to nothing. I dreaded going to work because it was painful to be stripped of all rank and authority. By mid-June I was busy looking for lost material. I had absolutely nothing left on my plate and I needed to fill my day. One afternoon Jack stopped into my office to chit chat.

  “So have you found anything yet?” Jack asks.

  “I have something cooking but it’s not in my field. It’s running a mail office for a large insurance company.” I reply.

  “Hey it’s a job and we have to still pay you your severance.” Jack says.

  “We’ll see about that. You know what really bothers me Jack?” I ask.

  “What’s that,” Jack says.

  “This place not only relocated me here but they paid for me to go back to school. They invested over thirty thousand dollars for me to get my bachelor’s degree which I will receive this Saturday. This company has invested so much money in me. I just don’t understand this.” I say.

  “Here is one for you to sleep on. Your boss Ricky only has an associate’s degree. Did you ever think that he considers you a threat for his job?” Jack says with sincerity.

  “I though Ricky had a bachelor’s degree.” I respond.

  “Nope only an associate’s degree.” Jack says with a smile.

  “You know Jack, back in January when he signed the approval for my class he questioned me on how many more classes I had left. Your theory makes sense.” I reply.

  The next couple of weeks seemed to drag by as I needed to find things to do. The one good thing I had going for me was the pursuit of the insurance company. If things fell in place I would be walking out the door from this job and into the door for that job.

  When the last day came I was very nervous as I walked into the place I called home for the last six years. At the beginning of the day I handed in all my company owned items. This included my laptop, cell phone, and company badge. Next I met with my vice president and he conducted my exit interview. I signed off on my confidentiality paperwork and workers comp paperwork telling my old company that I had no known injuries. Then I was given my severance along with all my vacation pay. We had a little luncheon and cake with all my associates. There were tears shed that day as my employees cried upon my departure. I walked down the stairs and headed for my car when I was intercepted by Eleanor, the customer service manager. She gave me a big hug and couldn’t hold back her tears.

  “We finally get an operation manager that gives a damn and they find a way to get rid of him.” Eleanor says with tears dripping down her face.

  “It is what it is Eleanor and we can’t change it.” I reply trying to console her emotions.

  “The way they treated you over the last three months was totally unprofessional. You are so much better than that.” Eleanor says.

  “Hey they say things happen for a reason. When one door closes another one opens.” I respond.

  “This whole place is going to miss you because you are your own person and you cared for every person inside these walls.” Eleanor says as she pulls away and walks away crying.

  I am at a loss for words as I get into my car. It’s hot outside as I start the car and roll the windows down to let the heat out. I put the car in reverse and backed out of my parking space. I look at the building one last time, knowing it will be the last time I will ever set eyes on it. I put the car in gear and head towards the road. I look both ways before pulling out. I am heading home early on my last Friday. I turn around and look one more time with a tear in my eye. This was my dream job and it was all over. I looked in my rearview mirror until the building faded out of site.

  Chapter 3 – The Revolving Door

  The next couple of jobs were like revolving doors. The manager position at the insurance company was all but a bullshit position. The same week I was hired the vice president that hired me was let go. I should have seen the signs and writing on the wall because they had two mail centers and only wanted one manager running both. The job was too good to be true because just as I was being trained I was being pushed out the door. I think the vice president that hired me jumped the gun and upper management made sure my life was hell. With another job behind me I was on unemployment for the first time in my 47 years of life. This just goes to show that you’re not a person but a number. Corporate America has become this machine that chews you up and spits you out. That old time corporate mentality of grooming your employees and being loyal is gone. They use you for what they can get out of you and when they need to cut overhead you’re eliminated.

  After three months out of work I landed a job as a distribution manager at a 3PL. For everyone a 3PL is a third party logistics company. They come into your facility and run your warehouses and logistics for less money than it costs the host company itself. Even though I didn’t like the concept, I had to take the job because I needed to support my family. In the beginning everything went well. I interviewed and hired the entire management staff. The next step was hiring all the hourly employees. Then two weeks of aggressive training to get the entire staff up to speed. When we took the operation over we were already a week behind on orders. We hired more people and management than we needed. We knew we would lose people through attrition and others that just couldn’t do the physical side of the job. Within two months, I took the operation that was running in the red into a twenty-five percent profit. I know the operation still had many kinks to work out but we addressed them one at a time. The management team I hired was strong and worked together to conquer the roadblocks that once stood in our way. After a few good months with a growing profit margin, my boss started doing things to deceive the operation. Every day we would have a production call with the customer. My boss would be throwing things out there that didn’t even pertain to the day’s conversation. This went on for days into weeks and it began to grow on me. After one call, my operations manager Eddie and I had a conversation.

  “Freddy, you better watch your back. I think Tom is trying to make you look bad in front of the customer.” Eddie says.

  “So it’s not only me. You’re getting the same vibes off these calls.” I reply.

  “I think he is looking for a fall guy for the shipping incident last month.” Eddie states.

  “We addressed that problem and he knows it.” I reply.

  The shipping incident occurred when we sent out an overseas shipping container and the barrels were not properly blocked and braced. To
make a long story short, we used the existing company’s block and bracing procedures and it failed on the ocean. The drums all became dislodged and moved around inside the container. We were lucky because none of the drums opened up in transit. We mastered a new blocking and bracing procedure that included pallets and two by fours. After every container was loaded a supervisor or manager had to check the block and brace to make sure it was secure. For the next couple of months this was the norm on all the calls. By the end of July we were preparing for the physical inventory. I worked alongside all the managers to prepare for this when my manager Tom calls me. He tells me he is taking me off the inventory preparation team because it’s pulling me away from the day to day operation. So we get through five days of inventory and reconciliation. Things begin to slow down a little when my boss Tom Prior arrives unexpectedly. He walks by my office and into the safety manager’s office. He closes the door and chats with her for a few minutes. I look over at Eddie.

  “Like you and I have been talking over the past couple of weeks today is the day. It’s been nice working with you Eddie.” I say with concern.

  “Will you quit being so negative, he is probably here to go over a few things.” Eddie replies.

  Then the safety manager and Tom come walking into my office.

  “Eddie, will please excuse us for a few minutes.” Tom says to Eddie.

  I looked at Eddie and smile as he walks out. The safety manager takes as seat across from my desk and cannot make eye contact with me. She has a pad in her hand and as Eddie leaves, Tom closes the door behind him. Tom stands on the other side of the desk and I wait for him to start the conversation.

  “Well it’s come to the point that we need to make a change.” Tom says to me while looking down at me from the front of my desk.

  “Get to the point Tom.” I reply.

  “We just don’t think you’re the right fit here so we are letting you go.” Tom says in a low tone.

  “Why, what did I do wrong? We have been growing and the customer is more than happy with our results.” I say in desperation.

  “It’s nothing that you did. We just feel it’s time for a change.” Tom says.

  I look over at the safety manager as she writes notes into the pad. I can see she is in cahoots with this asshole.

  “You know Tom, this is bullshit. Here is my badge, please escort me out.” I say as I throw my badge on the desk.

  He escorts me down the stairs and out the door. He doesn’t say a word to me as I walk through the turnstile. I start to walk towards my car.

  “I wish you the best of luck. You are a good manger and I have learned a lot from you.” Tom says.

  “Thanks but that doesn’t put food on my table.” I say as I walk away.

  I make my way home where my wife asks me what I’m doing home early. I tell her that I was let go and she gets pissed off at me. I walk upstairs to change out of my business casual attire. At this point I am frustrated as my life is beginning to fall apart. I have three children at home with a large mortgage and a growing tax levy that is strangling me.

  The next day I start to put out my resume online. This goes on for months with few or little response. I cash out my two 401K retirements to help make ends meet. This unemployment stint goes on for 19 months. I use up all my retirements and then I cannot make the mortgage payments. Then I lose the house and we move into a small two bedroom apartment back in our home town. I continue to put out resumes and finally land a job in a large distribution warehouse. It pays a lot less than I am use to but it pays the bills. The only bad thing about this job is it’s over seventy miles away and its second shift. I know I need the job so I take it without pause. I leave the apartment every day at one in the afternoon and don’t get home until one-thirty in the morning. This schedule is brutal on my body as I near the age of fifty. I do the daily grind because I know I have too. The hard part is there is little time available to see the kids and wife during the week. I make sure I am up in the morning to put them on the school bus and just to see them daily. I look at them and I know why they are the reason I’m beating myself into the ground. My wife and children are my driving force. This goes on for a year and half when a warehouse manager job falls in my lap. The warehouse is only five minutes from my house and its first shift. The pay is a little less but that will be made up with a lot less gas and no tolls. So I take the job with reserve. Everyone is happy in the house because now we can be a family again. This happiness will be short lived because the owner of the company only wanted me there to clean up the mess from previous warehouse managers that didn’t know what the hell they were doing. I got this feeling in my second month of employment. I was busy working in the warehouse creating locations and doing a cycle count. At this point everything is cleaned up off the floor and all the garbage has been thrown out. The floors are swept and the place looks immaculate.

  “Can I ask you one question?” Pedro Wallawitz the owner asks me.

  “Sure go ahead.” I reply in an upbeat tone.

  “What is it that you do here?” Pedro asks with concern.

  “I run the warehouse along with shipping and receiving.” I answer jokingly.

  He doesn’t answer me and looks around at the progress I have made. Now this company is so far behind in technology they don’t even have a warehouse management system. Everything I do for inventory is logged on an excel spreadsheet. I monitor the usage of raw material on a weekly basis. I inventory what goes into production daily but that doesn’t include what the production techs take out of inventory before I get to work daily, or on Saturdays. Then on Wednesday morning during our production meeting the shit hits the fan.

  “Okay, I want to know how we ran out of half inch plywood and black laminate.” Pedro asks as he singles me out in the meeting.

  Every day I come to meeting I am prepared with my inventory sheets and the ordering log. So I look down at my inventory sheet and I look at the inventory along with the reorder numbers. I make sure that have all the right information before I open my mouth.

  “Well, on Monday when I did the cycle count we had ten sheets of plywood with a reorder when we hit five sheets. The black laminate we had five sheets with a reorder when we hit three sheets.” I reply with confidence.

  “Well we ran out during production and we are at a standstill.” Pedro says

  “Pedro, I am working off the inventory sheet. The inventory sheets tell me what the safety stock should be for each item. If this has changed, then someone needs to inform me. Besides when the production techs take material from the warehouse and they are supposed to inform me of what they took and how much they took.” I reply.

  “I am holding you responsible for this and it will go in your file.” Pedro says.

  “Wait a minute here, you’re putting the blame on the wrong person. You’re making me take the fall for an engineer that did not plan properly. Aren’t your engineers supposed to order material for each job they spec out? My inventory is for emergency use.” I say defending myself.

  “Don’t even go there.” Pedro says as he leaves the conference room.

  The next couple of weeks went by quickly and we were heading into late fall. Everything in production slowed down to nothing after the company lost a big project. I was working in the back warehouse counting inventory with many production workers pushing brooms. Then I hear my name called over the PA system to report to the business manager’s office. I say to myself this isn’t good as I walk through the production area. The workers are heckling and telling me that I’m done. I know they are just kidding around as I walk into her office. I take a seat across from her desk with the floor supervisor sitting by the window. I already know what’s going on before she opens her mouth.

  “There have been a few incidents and it’s been brought to our attention that you are not doing what you were hired to do.” The business manager says.

  “Are you kidding me? Have you seen that warehouse lately? It’s a complete 180 from when I arr
ived. Everything is inventoried and located and all put to a spreadsheet. I oversee the shipper and receiver and perform their duties when they are out of the building. Where is this coming from?” I ask with concern.

  “Freddy it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from. We are going to have to let you go.” She says.

  “Is this stemming from the inventory incident?” I reply.

  “Its few different things that I’m not entitled to tell you about.” She says with her head down.

  “Why can’t you just tell me the truth? There is no work and you need to cut payroll. I am one of the highest paid here.” I reply.

  “I am not going to lie, that is part of it.” She replies.

  “My god, if your intent was for me to be a hired hand to come in and clean up a mess, I would have never taken this job.” I reply as I get up.

  “I am really sorry,” She says.

  “You don’t know what the word means. Now I get to go on unemployment again but this time I have nothing in the bank to fall back on. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you and your families because mine will be anything but merry.” I say as I walk out the door disgusted.

  The revolving door continues with a job to job scenario. I have come to realize I am a hired gun to clean up messes that others have created. My life is in total shambles for I am caught in a downward spiral with no way of escaping. I am now in my early fifties and no one wants to hire an old man. I can really feel what it’s like to live the American dream as everything is being taken away from me. The government takes away and penalizes the working man to pay for the welfare recipients, which want everything for free. I am really feeling the breaking point because I have nothing to live for. My house has been foreclosed on and my relationship with my wife is deteriorating. Now I have to tell her I’m out of work again.

  Chapter 4 – The Last Straw

  Things just were not going my way. With my unemployment running out I landed a job ninety minutes from home. This job turned out to be a supervisor job and that was two step below my capabilities. Again, I had no choice but to take it because I needed the job. The commute was okay in the spring, summer and fall but when winter came, it was unbelievable. Now the normal working day is around ten hours but could extent up to twelve. I would leave the house at five thirty in the morning and not get home until eight-thirty in the evening. When I arrived home I would eat a cold dinner and take a shower. I would lay in the bed watching a ball game and fall asleep within a few minutes. My life was becoming a nightmare with no personal or family life. All the kids were playing sports in school and I couldn’t get out of work early to make one game. Every night I would be given the riot act from the wife. She would hammer me that there is more to life than working all hours of the day. I told her there was nothing I could do. Management was holding me accountable for shipping everything and anything. One weekend in the early fall my wife and I got into a horrible argument.