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Terrie Rowe shares the following: Gosh, so many
years, so many memories. For some reason this one sticks in my mind, maybe because it illustrates the uncertain nature of
employment. For all the times it felt like a family, it was, after all a business: One year business was good and at Thanksgiving,
the company gave everyone a ham. The following year, the market had turned and there was a layoff right before the holidays.
The day of the layoff, I went into the womens restroom, and inside one of the stalls someone had written--"Last year canned
hams...this year, just canned." It broke my heart.
Bob Rowe remembers Christmas of 1988... I was
working in remanufacturing in Hayward and the department had a Christmas dinner and even a Christmas pagent. Some of the acts
included Nora Phelps doing a fractured fairy tales recitation, our supervisor (can't recall her name) doing an Edith Ann routine
from a giant overstuffed chair we had built for her, set against a painted back drop of a fireplace and Christmas tree. Does
anyone remember what the other acts were? I know there's a video of this floating around somewhere, and I'd love to see it
again. I remember Jim Cuila came, and was Scrooge, or that's how it seemed to me) he kept wondering out loud when we'd had
time to work.
Sharon Montgomery goes waaay back...I started with Diablo Systems in 1972 and was part
of the transfer to Xerox. For about a year, I worked for George Comstock as his secretary. I then transferred down to the
Printer Supplies Division in Sunnyvale for Gordon Nelson. They transferred me back to Hayward with Larry Lovelace (contracts
manager). I then worked for Ridley Rhind who was the Vice President of Marketing for a time, and finally ended up as a scheduler
in the printer supplies division, scheduling print wheels and ink jet supplies. It's been so long since Xerox...
Leslie Miller recalls that her Mom, Leigh Miller
and another employee painted a mural on one wall in the Building A cafeteria back in the 70's.
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The Mad Bomber Tells All (by Dan Gasper)
It was the spring of 1976. It all started innocently enough. Before
leaving for work I put a couple of manilla folders and a sandwich in my briefcase. Upon arriving at Building "A" I parked
the car, grabbed my briefcase and entered the building. As I walked through the production area on the way to the office,
I met Chuck Schaefer. I set the briefcase down and Chuck and I had a little chat. Soon I got a page from engineering and chose
to walk up there instead of using the phone. The briefcase was briefly forgotten.
About a half hour later, I got another
page. This time it was Joe Pincenti. He seemed somewhat agitated. Joe asked if I owned a black briefcase. "Yes I do - why?"
He said you better get the hell back here right away - they're getting ready to blow it up!
I went back down the hallway
toward the production area. The double fire doors were closed and there was a Hayward cop guarding them. He said what the
hell are YOU doing here. I said that's my briefcase. He opened the doors to let me through.
I found the briefcase.
It was on the floor with yellow blast blankets set up all around it. Standing near it were a couple of Hayward fireman, one
of whom was listening for ticking with a stethoscope. There was also the Plant Manager - I forget his name but maybe you can
remember - and a Hayward cop who appeared to be about 7 feet tall and not at all happy to be there. They were all standing
there waiting for the inevitable blast I guess.
The cop says to me, "What the hell are YOU doing here?" I said "That's
my briefcase!" He then says in his best tough cop voice "Suppose you open it then!"
So I grabbed the briefcase, set
it up on chair, and popped it open. The Plant Manager said "Just a $%^&(*# bologna sandwich!" and he walked off.
The Firemen picked up their things and left. The policemen left. There I stood, all alone with my sandwich.
All the
production people were out in the parking lot enjoying the beautiful spring weather.
I thought I was gonna get fired
or arrested or at least have a reprimand put in my record. My boss Bob Towns a few hours later met me in the hall and said
"Hello there Mad Bomber." I told him to wait a year or two before teasing me - right now I don't see any humor in this
at all.
BTW, I still have the briefcase. It's been around the world with me and it's still in one piece!
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Judy Wade shares the following: Where do you start? There are so many memories. I, like many
of you, grew up at Xerox. Some of us found our soul mates and some just found a step to the next party. Party Party Party!
That seemed to be the main event at work and away from work. Between all the company picnics, Halloween dress-ups and so many
other activities we were involved in, work seemed to be something we had to go do in order to find out where the next party
was. I was thinking about a Halloween Party one year at Glen Perry's house where I went as a witch. I went through the whole
night with everyone looking at me wondering who I was. Finally about 11:00 p.m., I couldn't stand it any longer and put my
teeth back in my mouth, and everyone yelled "Judy!". I don't think I will ever forget that. Another fond memory is Dianna
Green kissing the whale at Marine World. She was laughing so hard, it made everyone laugh. (As you all must know, Dianna passed
away in 1997.) I could go on, but will leave room for others to drop a line about their memories of the good old days at Xerox.
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