Webster Wegmans Fall 1990

So apparently my inability to keep my mouth shut had cost me a job. Unfortunately, I never did learn how to let a boss tell me to do something incorrectly or unsafe. Sometimes it is just a personal preference how to install pipe, but other times it’s just wrong. It is a pleasure to work with or under someone who is knowledgeable, but is still willing to talk out the job. My business agent told me Jim S-ski had told him that I was being laid off because I was leaving early, which I did twice because I had things to take care of before night school and I told my foreman who obviously didn’t tell Jim. Also that my partner Rick C, who he also laid off, was stealing from the company. That was a lie. I was still driving most days to work. Rick never brought a lunch pail, so if he was stealing he was putting it in his pockets! Contractors get away with making rash and unfounded accusations, but not pressing charges. It’s like fighting a shadow! Plus they never fire you, they lay you of due to lack of work, so sometimes you don’t even know they think you did something wrong. To be honest I took advantage of not working for the first time in years and proceeded to enjoy life. I had started dating my 2nd husband Ken. We spent weekends renovating his family cottage on Keuka Lake. In May 1990, he moved into my house. I set the ground rules by having him pay a share of household expenses. He paid the electric and phone bills which totaled about $300 month. In retrospect, it was quite a deal, room and board for $75 a week. I paid for all the groceries, the mortgage, insurance and taxes. I also went off birth control. I was 32 and wanted children, but not a husband! There was no work locally according to my BA, Roy D, but he sent me up to another Wegmans in Webster. This is in Local 13’s jurisdiction, so the pay scale was higher plus we were working 45 hours weekly. The extra money was greatly appreciated and desperately needed. My mother happened to have a cottage near Sodus Bay about 15 minutes from the job, so I was able to stay with her during the week. The job itself was great. I had experience brazing and knew the piping system from my first job. The guys were great and treated me well. I never told anyone, except for one guy, that I was pregnant until the very end. I only told him because he kept asking me out. Even after I told him, he kept asking. Some guys really can’t take No for an answer. I really thought it was a nice way to bookend my apprenticeship with Wegmans as my first job as an apprentice and as a journeyman.