By now Xerox had completed moving all the branches into the Center. At this point Xerox decided to change the name from Customer Administration Center to Customer Service Center. This makes a HUGE difference. No, it doesn't. It just requires new printed everything, signs, letterhead, envelopes, business cards, any and all things that already said Customer Administration Center. I can only imagine the number of executives it took to make that decision not to mention the amount of money.
The sad news for me was that I had to work for a new boss. Wonder Woman was moving on to bigger and better things. I was going to be working for a woman that many people confused with a retired U.S. Marine. Turned out she was awesome, she just had the ability to make you sweat with a well phrased question. She barked orders and employees were tempted to reply, "Sir, yes, Sir, I MEAN MA'AM". She did not have many personal skills and she did not communicate well, written or verbally. That became part of my job. I wrote all her memos, presentations and most often delivered them for her.
The file purge and new side tab system project was almost complete so that was a sure sign something would change that would create a new headache. I was stunned when I learned what the fly in the ointment was. The sales organizations still in the field were so unhappy that they could not deal face to face with their order administrators, they could not bribe them with goodies to get their orders installed long distance, so Xerox was moving approximately one third of the people from the Center back to the field. WHAT? This is a good plan? The sales reps can't suck it up and get their orders in on time? No, the company will spend a zillion more dollars to move 'em out. Can't have sales be unhappy.
This created a small problem for me. Files would now have to be shared from the Center to the field and vice-versa. This meant a new medium to store documents. All those 80 zillion files would have to be scanned and put on microfilm. New files would have to be sent in from the field to be scanned or scanned there for quick access at the Center.
Of course this could not be just done. It required many more dog and pony shows and begging for money. I was so tempted to just do an entire presentation on how much smoother things would run if we could reduce the number of presentations by half AND not have to beg for company money to solve company problems.
Oh, well, by now Xerox had a whole new concept. We were going to be NICE to customers. This plan was a last ditch effort to retain some business. Those employees who dealt with irate customers everyday were disappointed. No more telling the customer to pay up or else. No more waiting several months to resolve issues. We were going to act like our business depended on customers. REVOLUTIONARY! Of course this required training and meetings and classes and millions of dollars to teach people how to work together and be nice to customers, internal or external. We employees were lucky to coax out a one percent raise while the Mother Corporation was busy polishing and rolling out their "Quality Process". That equates to many, many more dog and pony shows only now we had to compete with other "Quality" producers in an annual Team Work Day! Expensive Dog and Pony Shows! Money could be spent anywhere but on the employees salaries.
Of course most of this training and preening and strutting was done in your spare, spare time. You had to carry your workload and participate and learn Quality and NEVER work overtime. Just too expensive for the company. So to be a suck-cess you worked for free, under the radar with the full knowledge of your boss. If you were lucky your manager would give you comp time but that was against policy so not all bosses did this. It you really busted your butt and worked yourself almost to death, you might get a plaque. Sometimes a check. I received a recognition check for the work I did for three or four years fixing the Corporation's file problems. I received an extra fifteen hundred dollars, minus taxes. I figure the hundreds of hours I worked for free was worth at least that. Of course I got a plaque too.
My friend Inga was getting a new boss too. She would be Current's Admin Aide now that he no longer had to be on a plane everyday. She was very apprehensive about this assignment. Rumor was Current could produce more work in an hour than most executives do in a day. He was also supposed to have very high expectations and did not tolerate people who couldn't meet those expectations. I told Inga I had a meeting with him once and he was very nice and seemed like he would be great to work for or with. She was skeptical but would keep an open mind,
Wonder Woman invited a few people over for dinner as a personal thank you for those of us who had literally given blood, sweat and tears for this women. She and her husband had just built a beautiful new home where rich people live. Zelda was invited and Elsie too. Dinner was on a Friday night so we all met at our house after work to drive across the Metroplex to Wonder Woman's house.
Elsie wore cut offs, a tee and no shoes. He refused to wear shoes. To my bosses house. For dinner. With other people present. REALLY? "Please wear shoes", should not be a question or a favor to ask of your nearly forty year old husband. "No, wore shoes all day". "Elsie, you have to wear shoes". "Nope". We agreed he would take his sneaks and put them on in the car once we got to Wonder Woman's new house. As soon as she opened the door, Elsie announced he was not happy to be wearing shoes. She, of course being a polite hostess, told him to feel free to be barefoot on her beautiful white carpet. All he needed was a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth to complete the picture. I was ready to be grown up. He was ready to stay a boy just like Peter Pan.
I just couldn't give up on my third marriage. THIRD MARRIAGE. Even I thought I belonged in a junk yard now. Maybe I expected to much. Maybe forty year old men don't wear shoes when invited to some one's home. Maybe cut offs and an "If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me" tee shirt with a cowboy hatted human skull emblazoned on the front was all the rage.
It was not just Elsie. All of our male friends, with a few exceptions, had drinking problems and/or cocaine problems and/or no job. I was going to save them. Not with religion, not with AA, not with concern. I was going to save them by making them shake in their boots and beg for mercy.
They just didn't know it yet and neither did I.
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