One's Vocational 'Groove'

  Recently my service manager passed away.  When someone you work with and is close to your age dies, it reminds you of your own mortality.  But I spoke enough of death in my last entry.  Today I want to talk about the activity in our lives that consume a very large part of our time, our jobs.
  Bill had been my boss for seven years and was a great guy, firm and unwavering about how things should be done but a good friend, too.  We would often share 'war stories' about the POS/Cash register industry.  The marvelous thing about Bill, besides a stint in the Navy, this was the only job he ever had and it lasted 43 years!  Nowadays, that is very unusual where the average length of employment is a little over four years.  My longest employment was 13 years.  Of course, another factor besides changing employers, is changing industries.  I changed industries once for four years and tried the semiconductor industry, and then went back to cash registers.  I guess once the ink gets in your blood, you can't stay away.
  Of course there are many circumstances that would require changing jobs, but in Bill's case, everything stayed in harmony for 43 years, wow!  After all that time, you aren't with a company, it is more like an extended family.  Something to be said for that kind of stability.  We will miss you, Bill.