August 3, 1998

On this day I started again to work at Delta.  Started again, you ask?  Yes, I left the company for a couple years when the headcount was being reduced.  For a variety of reasons, one that includes my longing to again be in the transportation industry, I applied for an open position and was rehired.  Here are a couple true things about my first day on the job:

1.       I was told to report on a particular day to start working.  Instead of coming on that day, I purposely showed up the day before and said it was the day I was told to begin. Why would I do that?  It was my understanding I wasn’t the only person hired.  When multiple people start working on the same day, they oldest person has highest seniority.  I wanted to have a leg up on anyone who might be older than me.  My hunch was right.  Also, I was sure I could show up and say it was the day I was told to start and no one would know.  I was right again.

2.       For training that day I was to work side by side with a seasoned agent.  Let me say this:  I had previously worked a little more than 6 years at Delta in several different positions.  Also, my preceding job was in a reservations call center.  I was well trained and, for the most part, still remembered all the entries.  All I needed to learn was how to check in a passenger and do the luggage tags. 

A man came up to me with a reservation for international travel he wanted to purchase.  At the time, international and domestic pricing were done by different systems and most people at the airports, unless it had international flights, didn’t know the international system.  I did know and remembered it.  I verified the fare, confirmed the itinerary, and entered the form of payment.  Then I looked at my mentor and asked, “How do I issue a ticket?”  He thought I was joking.  In reservations, we didn’t issue tickets.  The reservation was put on a queue and the tickets were mailed out. 

I later started training new agents working the ticket counter.  In just a couple years I took a new job that moved me and my family to Atlanta.  That’s another story.