I have been in the printing industry since I was 25. 22 years later, I look back and see that it was really the only choice I had. My entire family was in the industry and I at 18 thought I could buck the system and strike out on my own into this great big world. I wandered and drifted through a short stint in college, part time jobs and even working 12 hour shifts doing security. All of this was in preparation for the realization that I was totally uninterested in anything else.
College was a bust, not because I couldn’t cut it, but because I couldn’t foment enough interest in anything they had to offer. Chemical engineering is for those who really are dedicated to intense study and passionate about such things as physics (yawn) and chemistry (not so yawn, but not so wow either). It was not for me.
Part time jobs, including fast food, selling electronics, toys, software, and cell phones held no joy, passion or even interest in transitioning into management for obvious reasons. They were just placeholders in my life while I satisfied my need to just be. They simply kept me from starving or living on the streets. Definitely not for me.
Then my brother convinced me that security was a good thing to try. Right! So here I am, sitting in my car from 7 pm. to 7 am., five or six days a week. I can tell you, if not for my love of reading, I would have gone crazy. I swear I read a book a night sitting in my Honda Accord watching a building do nothing. Apparently, they are inanimate objects and have absolutely no social skills. Still not for me.
Sad to say, even then, the printing industry was the furthest thing from my mind. Around the time my 25th birthday was approaching, this very same brother got me a job making copies at what I considered a modern printing company. It was then that I unwittingly began my journey in the printing industry.
To be continued…