94-96 Cornell University

From late 1994 until the end of 1996, I worked exclusively at Cornell University in their shops. First I worked for 5 months at the Residence Life Shop. What a cool place that was. There were two or three of each trade, carpenter, electrician, laborer, plumber and pipefitter, as well as the shop foreman who was an old timer plumber. We worked together maintaining all the living quarters at Cornell. That included the dorms, as well as the cooperative houses, special living houses, (Native American, music, environmental), campus apartments, and some of the Greek housing as well. If you have never been to Cornell, you don’t know what you’re missing! Some of these places are absolutely stunning, some crafted with custom woodworking, waterfalls, and elaborate studios or labs. In the environmental house, they were allowed pets, so you never knew what would be lurking in a terrarium or cage. You also were working closer to the students than you would in the academic buildings. One time, I was repairing a shower handle in a tub. The resident was so fascinated by how it worked that he stepped into the tub with me. I quickly stepped out. Later I laughed thinking how I would probably be the first female to ever get fired for inappropriate interactions with a student! Unfortunately my older sister needed a hysterectomy and I volunteered to go to California to help her afterwards. I spent 10 days there, taking care of her and my nieces, but when I returned, they laid me off. Lessons learned—ask for a layoff before any vacations, because they will just lay you off afterwards! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was rehired in the pipe shop two months later. I was assigned to Jose R., really great guy, good worker and mechanic, with a heavy Puerto Rican accent. He would assign me to small construction projects, like lab remodels or relocations. I liked working with the scientists to figure out what services they needed and then figure out how to get them there. Many of them would show me what they were doing, like making micro-slices of sheep’s retinas and why it was important to have continuous air flow to the anti-vibration pad under the microscope. In late October, I had been trying very hard to lose the baby fat from my eldest, but had stalled. I talked to one of the trainers (as I repaired his heating) who recommended that I do different workouts and offered me the use of their row boats which are in pools that have moving water to really make you sweat! As it turned out, I was pregnant, so back came the weight! By the time I was 3 months along I had gained back 30 lbs. I had to resort to wearing overalls. In the beginning of January, I told Mark R. I was pregnant, but that the doctor said I could keep working up until my 8th month. I though he was okay with it, but I didn’t know that his wife had recently miscarried. I worked along for the next week or so, until one day we had a winter flood. I was working alone in a penthouse. I had a beeper, but had to find a phone to return pages. I had talked to the shop a few times requesting a pump that I needed. At noon, my husband had called the shop to tell them our home county was in a state of Emergency. At 3, they sent over the apprentice to tell me to go home and not to even stop to punch out at the shop. By then the roads were nearly impassable. About 2 miles from home, my car finally couldn’t go any further. Using a nearby house’s phone, I called my neighbor who had a 4 wheel drive. He informed me that my husband was home. Until then, I knew nothing about what was going on. This was before cell phones were in common use. Well, I able to get a loaner car while mine was being repaired and went to work on Monday. I asked Mark if they were going to provide me with a cell phone or if I had to buy my own. His reply was, “If you don’t like it here, you can leave” Rather than argue the point, I went upstairs to customer service where I asked if Cornell had an agreement with any cell phone companies as I wanted to buy one. Mark’s secretary overheard me and she told them about me not getting contacted by my husband during the emergency. I didn’t think anything of it, but the next thing I knew Mark is firing me and telling me to pack my tools and get the hell out. Somehow, he got the idea that I had gone over his head and complained; which I hadn’t. Once I got him calmed down, he realized that and I went back to work. For three days--until I was handed a layoff check. This is how long it takes to get a check cut at Cornell. Shaking my head I took the check, not knowing if I would ever work there again. Also not knowing if it was the cell phone or baby that made them do it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had my beautiful little girl in July, and by October, I was back working in the pipe shop. I was assigned to work with a sprinkler crew pulling on 2’ pipe wrenches and hauling up 3-4” pipe. One time I was in a lawyer’s office and the wrench slipped hitting my chest causing milk to spurt. Breastfeeding and pipefitting don’t mesh well. After 3 weeks, I had enough and asked for a layoff. I stayed home until she was 8 months old and I think we were better for it.