I am always intrigued by watching how my favorite TV shows end. You know.. all the popular shows have to end somehow, and you get the big marketing push to watch the final episode.. the "series finale". So how do they conclude these popular characters and situations? Some of my favorites include the Seinfeld characters getting sent to jail, the gang from Cheers faking everyone out that big events will happen, but then nothing worked out and the day ended just like any other, or my all time favorite.. Newhart, where the main character realized the whole show had been some crazy dream, as he awoke in his bedroom from his previous sitcom. But the most common send off seems to be when the characters move on to a new place and you get that stereotypical final shot of the door closing to the empty house or apartment, representing the show, that is now being left behind forever.Today.. I had my own Series Finale. Not on life, of course, but on my own adventures of the last 12 years. And I must say.. it felt very strange. Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of shock and unbelief as all my co-workers finished packing up their things, slowly trickling out of the building. As I watched my own office, slowly get condensed down to a vary large pile of boxes, too many memories came flooding back and I swear I had that typical TV montage playing in my head.. the "lets look back at our favorite moments from the last 12 seasons" video that let's you see just how far you have come.
I began my job at Monaco Coach Corporation in 1997. Then, I was finishing school and trying to find something part time to help pay the bills and get through college with some kind of real world experience. I spent quite awhile trying to find a good job, but found nothing that would work. I resigned myself to having to become a pizza delivery driver, when I suddenly had the inspiration to call the college career center and low and behold, on their phone line, I heard the perfect job description. I immediately faxed in my resume that Wednesday, Thursday I had my interview (inside the giant window lined boardroom that intimidated me to no end) and on Friday.. I had my first "real world professional" job.
As I said, I have continued to stay at the company since then. The company changed and went through many cycles causing a lot of my co-workers to move on, but the fact remained throughout: I REALLY liked what I did, and I REALLY liked my co-workers. My wife used to roll her eyes when I left the house each morning. I wasn't going to work.. I was going to play. I certainly enjoyed my weekends, but come Monday morning I didn't dread waking up, I looked forward to getting to the office and getting back to work. It was a fun job, and a great time.
Obviously I can't go into too many memories here.. This blog post would just last too long. But needless to say.. life for me was good at Monaco. I believed in the products and in traveling the country in luxurious RVs. I loved to travel to shows, to meet the owners, to hear their stories and adventures. I loved that we had a private jet, making the world such a small place.. where I could fly to meetings and back in a day (or to visit family for a weekend in Utah). And even when times were crazy.. I loved staying up for all-night photo shoots, tirelessly setting up trade show displays to wow people with my stuff. I didn't care if I worked extra hours on salary as I loved what I did and what all that hard work represented.
But in all this fun, I had to keep a solid fact in mind: If anything went wrong in the world.. one of the first things people would stop doing is making major purchases.. like $400,000 motorhomes, which could put us on a quick road to destruction. And every time I visited a dealership and looked out at the huge numbers of used RVs sitting there waiting for a buyer, I asked myself "how long can we keep building new ones at the high rate that we do, until the market is saturated?" Deep down.. I knew this would all come down.. at some point.
2008 was that point and one crazy year, as the economy began to slow, gas prices rocketed and the mortgage crisis began. It was the perfect storm in the RV industry: consumer confidence slipped, people who would normally buy coaches suddenly couldn't sell their old ones, nor could they sell their homes for any money. Potential new customers suddenly walked away from the idea, scared off by the fuel price surge. And then.. the credit markets dried up causing the banks to refuse to lend money for just about anything (and especially things they saw as luxury purchases). Suddenly we saw our Indiana plant shut down and many layoffs. But, again.. I loved my job and the challenge of marketing in these new conditions and so I stayed put.
In December, the company announced we'd all be getting an extended (unpaid) Christmas break, causing us a lot of panic. That break grew and grew, making us all wonder if we'd ever see the office again. But I was honestly surprised when the phone rang this morning and I heard the words.. "The company is laying off most of the work force.. you have to come in immediately, turn in your computer and clean out your office. There are no severance packages.. your insurance ends today and you lost any unused vacation time.. too bad" Suddenly.. my 12 years of fun.. came to a crashing halt. Yes, I had been on a break for the last 2 months, but most of me really believed that somehow we'd survive and come back strong. I missed my office and co-workers and just wanted my old routine back.
But instead.. today is our "Series Finale". We said our goodbyes.. we gave our hugs and then left what used to be our world behind for the big great open. Just like that cliched series ending, it finished with us walking out of that empty room so full of memories.. and shutting the door.
Today.. is a day to mourn. To mourn the job that I loved that I don't get to do anymore. To mourn the company that I really believed in that I have now watched, (like a plane doing a nose dive from 30,000 feet,) smashing into the ground and to mourn the people I don't get to see anymore on a daily basis. Its a tough pill to swallow. But today is it. I can't keep mourning. Tomorrow is, as the saying goes, the first day of the rest of my life... time to find my next big series and my next great adventure.
And so.. goodbye awesome job. Goodbye to my large cushy corner office with giant windows and comfy couch. Goodbye to jet-setting all over the country. Goodbye to great people with great talents, and great customers whom I will never forget. Goodbye to a great team of people over the years, to "Friday fun lunches," to laughing hysterically in meetings, to watching co-workers trip over chairs in the hallway. Goodbye to all my travel.. to Vegas, Orlando and California, my most frequent destinations.
It's been a great 12 years. The series is over.. now its time for my next adventure, however long it takes to find it.
