My Grocery List

Prologue:

I was not quite sure about writing "My Grocery List." After revisiting this idea a few times, I found that, just like a good movie about a subject, it's actually about life and the people that come into and out of the movie that makes it meaningful. And for me, it's the grocery business that became the vehicle to tell this story.

This is about growing up and learning about life while working in the grocery business. There were plenty of ups, and there were also some downs.

Through several great managers and co-workers, I enjoyed my career in the grocery business. The grocery business taught me about building character, credibility, and the value of honest hard work.

Many people I worked with had college degrees and extremely high skill sets in a variety of areas. Their stories of how and why they were in the grocery industry spoke to what they valued in life, who they were, and their great character.

There are so many people that I wish I could go back to say thank you. Many of the lessons they taught me applied through my entire life and every career I've had since.

Save Mart Grocery Store

At 15 I wanted to work at the local grocery store in town, Save Mart. Save Mart was a good job to have because of the pay, the benefits, and it looked like it would be a lot of fun. It was one of only two major grocery stores in town at the time. And for a teenager, Save Mart was the main parking lot where every high schooler who had a cool Camero or truck would hang out on the weekends. (Priorities of a 15 year old.)

In hopes of getting a job at Save Mart, I would to go into the store every couple of weeks asking Tom, the manager for a job. After several weeks of bugging him, he finally said yes. The manager at Save Mart was strict but he was also very nice.

I lived in California, and most of the stores were unionized. You had to be at least 16 years old to work in any union grocery store.

After working at Save Mart for a bit, someone found out how old I was, and told the union. My manager had to let me go because I wasn't 16 yet. It was devastating to experience being let go, even if it was just because of my age.

Unknown to me at the time, my manager saved my position until I turned 16. One day while I was in the store shopping, he asked me when do I turn 16? I told him in a couple weeks. He said you can start back on the day of your birthday! It so was awesome to come back on my 16th birthday and have my job again. My official title was courtesy clerk, which was a fancy name for a bagger.

At Save Mart, there were several people that helped me personally and professionally. There was an assistant manager who really helped me and my mother when things were tough. He took an interest in what was happening, and I will never forget how he helped us back then. I wish I could say thank you to him now.

On the lighter side, I was working with three other courtesy clerks at the time, all who had recently graduated high school. All three of them were very popular. I remember that whenever a girl would come into the store, the only thing they would ever say to me is, "Is Scott working today?" or "Is Keven working today?" or "Is Jack working today? It literally happened all the time and got to be pretty funny.

One of the grocery clerks was also a reserve police officer. I always was amazed how he could spot a shoplifter almost immediately, and he was always correct when they got caught. He had a serious tone most of the time, but he was a very nice person.

On one occasion, there was a shoplifter who was observed stealing meat near the back of the store. The manager on duty was pretty big. He looked like he used to play football. This manager saw what was happening and called 911, then we both waited at the exit door if he tried to get out.

Moments later, the shoplifter walked up the exit next to us. He immediately pulled out a knife and pointed it at the manager. It was like time stood still for a second. Then he ran out the of the store.

By this same time, the police had arrived. They chased him on foot around the perimeter of the shopping center. As they came back around to the front of the store, the shoplifter jumped into his car and sped off. The police chased him.

The manager and I thought we were done with that incident until a police officer came back to the store. It was just a follow up to the call. The officer advised that the shoplifter had wrapped his car around a telephone pole instead of just stopping.

I will never for that incident. That shoplifter almost died over $12.79 worth of steaks he stole. Totally not worth loosing your life. (This was a long time ago and $12.00 back then could buy a few steaks.)

Save Mart was a great job and it taught me a lot about people. I started to build real confidence and learn how to interact with the public.

When I turned 18, Save Mart was the job that allowed me finance my very first car. For each weekly pay check, the UFCW Credit Union took out $25 for my car payment. Save Mart gave me a great financial start in my life.

My First Car: Datsun B 210

Moving On

Time moved on as I was working at Save Mart. At 17 I graduated high school and then started college to study music. Save Mart had become a stable part of my life.

But nothing stays the same forever. There was now a new grocery store chain in town that was opening up called Lucky's.

So one day at work, the wife of the Lucky's manager was shopping at our store. She was shopping at Save Mart because Lucky's was still being built. After she finished shopping, I helped her out with her grocery cart. I asked if there were any openings still left and she said yes. A day later, I applied at Lucky's and got hired as a grocery cashier.

A funny note: when I went into the Lucky's store to apply for a job, I mentioned to the manager, Steve, that his wife had told me there might be some openings still left. He jokingly said yes, and sometimes my wife thinks she's the manager here too, lol.

Upon getting hired, I gave my notice to Save Mart. Unfortunately I got into an argument with my Manager who had hired me. I don't carry regrets, but I do say I feel the argument was because of my immaturity at that time. I wish I could have been more mature and parted on better terms. The silver lining for that experience was another life lesson learned from Save Mart. I never made that mistake again.

This Save Mart chapter was the introduction to my grocery career. I had a lot of fun there and this experience prepared me for what was to be my career for the next several years.

Lucky's Grocery Store

Getting hired at Lucky's was a big break for me. I was now a grocery clerk journeyman level 1, and the income at a union store in California was pretty significant.

When you get to grocery clerk journeymen level IV, you could enjoy a pretty nice life, great benefits, and also plenty of vacation time too.

My Lucky Name Badge from Way Back Then

When I was hired, the new Lucky's store was still being built. Our big grand opening was just around the corner. We were very busy stocking the entire store from a completely empty state.

It was a lot work, but this was also our time to learn how Lucky's does things. This was also management's time to screen the new hires, and weed out any that were not performing up to expectations.

This particular Lucky Store was unique in the sense that it was the very first Lucky branded store in the region. Lucky's had selected their own experienced managers and experienced employees for this new location. They all moved from northern California for this grand opening, and were specifically chosen to make this new store successful for Lucky's, and it's brand.

One of these experienced Lucky's employees was an older person named Larry. He was a great guy with a southern accent. He was also very good at his job. Larry did not say much, but after a few weeks we started to become friends. He always reminded me of the movie star Lee Van Cleef.

The Weeding Out Process

As each week progressed, a new work schedule would be posted in the break room. We would all be waiting there to find out who's name was hopefully still on the schedule, and who's name would unfortunately be missing from the schedule.

It was a brutal few of months until that finial schedule would now be officially for permanent employees. Luckily I made it through the weeding out process. I always had in the back of my mind: if I did not make it, it would be a serving of humble pie for me, trying to ask for my old job back at Save Mart.

Assistant Manager Jim

My assistant manager's name was Jim. He was a consummate professional in everything he did. From the way he dressed to the way he treated everyone. He always made everyone feel genuinely important, and that their role at the store was very important to the success of Lucky Stores.

The lessons I learned from him have stayed with me throughout my different careers, and to this day.

1. Treat everyone with respect.
2. Make everyone you work with feel that what they do is very important.
3. Always work like your boss is just around the corner, because one day, he will.
4. The big things will get done, it's the little things you need to be aware of.

Jim was the kind of person that could succeed wherever he worked, and in any career he had chosen.

My Fond Memory of Larry

About a year or so had passed since I was working with Larry. He taught me how to work fast in the grocery business. I remember when Larry's girlfriend, a Lucky's checker, had broke up with him. He took it really hard and was not doing well.

One day when I came to work, I was told that Larry had taken his own life. It was my first time dealing with the subject of suicide. Years later, I would unfortunately learn more about suicide, working in law enforcement. It's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. CDC Suicide Prevention Resources

Paying My Dues

As time went on, my manager and assistant manager started to put more trust into my work. I became one of the closing persons in charge. I would have to pull the tills at the end of the night, make sure they were correct, and put them in the safe. I was issued keys to close the store. At the end of the night I would make sure all employees were out of the store and then lock it up.

A Rare Lucky Belt Buckle I Still Have. I was Fully Into The Lucky Culture

Over the years I was able to get experience in the produce department, frozen department, stocking, checking, and closing manager. It was fun and there were a lot of nice people working at this store.

One of the many fun memories I have was stocking groceries on the night shift. We had a great tight crew. Most mornings, at the end of our shift, we go out for breakfast, or go the local park to play football till about noon.

After, we would barbecue steaks and have lunch, then head home to sleep and do it all over again the same evening. There are so many fun stories from this time but I'll keep it to just a few moments.

Transferring To Lucky's Sister Store GEMCO

GEMCO was a chain of membership stores that was owned by Lucky Stores. GEMCO operated from 1959 until closing in 1986. GEMCO was the first major chain store that was like a whole sale membership store. At GEMCO you could buy a diamond ring, sporting goods, clothes, guns, and groceries, all with the same grocery cart.

I worked night stocking and then checking during some weekend days. We had very old cash registers, even for that time. They were the mechanical class 5 registers. I did not know these even existed because all the stores I worked in only had electronic registers.

On the class 5 registers, you had to press hard on each column for the price. The 10's column, 1's column, 10 cent column, and yes, the penny column. Then you hit the big button to enter the price.

Night Stocking

The GEMCO store I worked at was a sink or swim type store, as far as being an employee. It was so busy, packed solid with customers from opening till closing. This is where I learned how to stock groceries super fast. Each of us on the stocking crew was stocking about 800-1200 cases a night, depending on the season.

At this time the 'generic' food brand was first being introduced in commercial grocery stores, and I had the misfortune of being assigned the generic isle. All of the grocery isles were long and about 6 feet tall.

I would go into the store at the beginning of my night shift and the shelves would be literally empty. You could put your arm all the way to the back of each shelf and walk the entire isle. There would not one single can or item left.

This store also had a great crew. We had a lot of fun, and each night was filled with joking and having fun. We worked our butts off but this made it fun too. One rule we all agreed upon was, for each night, one person could pick their favorite radio station that played over the store intercom for the entire shift. Unfortunately the night manager loved country and at that time I not stand country music. It was like being locked up in country jail. The irony was after about a year, I knew the words to all the country songs I did not like.

A few of us lived in the neighboring town and we would take turns car pooling to work. Something as simple as car pooling with my friends, looking back now, were some great times. at that time I had an old Nova 350 with Posi Trac rear end,and no heater. It was brutal in the winters.

For our 30 min lunch's at two or three in the morning, we would all hurry to Carl's Jr. drive thru for burgers. It was always a challenge to eat fast and hopefully get back in time. Fun times.

A Time of Reflection

While working at GEMCO I had become so involved with the grocery business, I began to feel something was missing. I had let my music drop off the map completely. I started to fell lost and wanted to start playing again.

With this, I started back at school. I was at Fresno State University and played in their Statesmen Big Band. Three cool things about that experience.

1. One of the trumpet players in that band was my childhood Optomologist who did surgery on both my eyes when I was eleven years old. Pretty crazy 'seeing' him in the band.

2. Some of the guys, including me, got volun-told to play in the FSU marching band. I did this mainly because The Fresno State Marching Band also gets to attend the football games at no cost. We also got to take a trip to Los Angeles, to play the half time show for an actual NFL game. It was the LA Raiders vs The Cardinals. That was a crazy game and half time show.

Now this was back in the 1980's when the original LA Raiders had their bad aggressive reputation, and the fans were all in too. So while we were in band formation, waiting on the side lines to start the half time show, the LA Raider fans were literally throwing bottles at us. It was crazy but kind of fun too. After all, this was my first NFL game that I attended, and especially getting to do an NFL half time show.

3. We had a FSU Music Department end of year dinner party. One of the FSU's band directors, I wish I could remember his name, gave a talk during the dinner. What he said was unexpected and struck me like hammer. It completely woke me up and motivated me so much to really go after my goals and accomplish them.

He asked everyone one question and then paused for a few minutes to let it sink in: "How bad do you really want, what you say you want?

Enough to spend 30 minutes everyday working towards it? Or, do you want it bad enough to spend four hours a day working towards it? How about enough to spend eight hours a day working at it? How bad do you want what you say you really want?

The time that you're willing and disciplined enough to spend on your goal, is a measure of how bad you really want it.

If you're not spending every possible moment working towards your goal, then stop wasting your time, and find a goal that really motivates you for success.

After that night my mind was made up. Shortly after I remember seeing in the music department an advertisement on the bulletin board for The Los Angeles Jazz Workshop. It was awesome and looked like a way to get back into playing full-time, and hopefully make a career as a musician.

This is the actual Los Angeles Jazz Workshop Poster. Pretty awesome endorsements by some of the biggest names in jazz: Louie Bellson, Ed Shaughnessy, Bobby Shew and many more.

Preparing My Move To Los Angeles

This story is just about the grocery business, but there are a few moments that are related to how and why I switched stores and companies.

So while I was working at GEMCO, I was trying to figure out how to move to Los Angeles, stay employed, and start music at the LA Jazz Workshop. Getting a transfer from Fresno to Los Angeles in the grocery business only happens when you're a manager or higher.

So I needed to find a way to get transferred as a grocery clerk. So I wrote my grocery resume and made several copies. (This was before computers were affordable.)

For a few weekends after work, I would drive to Los Angeles and visit every Lucky store I could find. I would go in to the store and introduce myself to the manager and give them my resume. After about a month or so I got a finally a call and it was one of the LA mangers. He asked me if I still wanted the position, to which I said yes of course.

Next I found a room to rent in Northridge. It was a four bedroom house full of musicians going to Northridge University (CSUN) for music. As a side note, Northridge had an incredible music program and several professional bands would hire right out of that school.

Now with a new LA Lucky's store starting date, I made a few drives to Northridge after work on the weekends, and slowly moved all my belongings.

I remember my last night working at GEMCO before leaving for LA. Everyone was so encouraging. One of the night managers, Doug, said he was concerned that I might not find what I was looking for, and not to get 'lost' or have something bad happen. I appreciated his genuine concern, but I knew nothing was going to stop me.

Lucky Store Northridge California

Now this is where thing really started and got busy. I now living in LA and was able to sign up and audition for the Los Angeles Jazz Workshop. I also enrolled in CSUN Northridge Music Department.

My Lucky's store was very old but it was nice to work there. It took a bit of transition to how they work in LA. Very fast pace and lot's of people everywhere.

I'm very thankful to my manager who got my transfer approved. He actually did it when the district manager was on vacation. When the district manager got back from vacation he told the my manager that he could not approve transfers, especially from very far away. It was too late though, I was already moved to Los Angeles and working there, thanks to my manager.

After about a year I transferred to the Canoga Park Lucky's store. This store was also very busy, but it had more of a neighborhood feel. This is where I became friends with a few of my co-workers. It was about an hour walk from where I lived in Chatsworth.

I switched from nights to working as a checker during the day. I remember my manager, Karl. He was German and very high strung. Although most of the times he was pretty fun to work with.

There was one friend I worked with and got to know, Nick. He was super cool and always nice to everyone. He was into weight lifting and taught me how to lift weights, the correct way.

There was also an older man who looked like Stacy Keach, the actor who played a detective on TV in the 70's. He was a little ruff around the edges, but very funny and a hard worker.

I was still playing music and working at this store location. I also was going to a paralegal school at night. Once I graduated, I was able to get a job at a large law firm in downtown Los Angeles. I was very happy and gave my two week notice. This was when I left the industry, but only for a of couple years.

I was so excited to have the opportunity to be a paralegal. I unfortunately put aside my music goals to see where this new office career would take me. It was a great experience, but also very demanding.

After about a year or so, I realized I didn't have time for life or music. Instead of beating myself up, I started to reflect on where I was in life. The lessons that I still needed to learn, of how and why I got to this moment in life.

I realized through trial and error that working in the grocery industry was the win/win solution for me. Through the grocery business, I could support myself and have the flexibility to accomplish my music goals.

Finding A Way Back Into The Grocery Industry

As I was still working at the law firm, I felt it was time to put into motion the path back to a normal life, and normal schedule. I applied to a small independent grocery store located in Bel Air called The Bel Air Market. It was about half way between the where the law firm was located in downtown LA, and where I lived in the valley. With my previous grocery experience, they hired me. I was part time and worked in the produce department.

The thought was, I could schedule a few grocery store shifts to coincide with my drive home from work, and maybe one shift on the weekend. If everything worked out at the market, I would give my two week notice at the law firm and be set.

The Bel Air Market was a very high end store that catered to celebrities, and movie stars who lived in that area. Service was the number one priority. The one rule that management had was, you are not allowed to ask for autographs or pictures. If you do, you would be fired.

The managers advised that the celebrities just want to come in and shop for groceries like normal people. (The who's who list of customers I got to help was pretty amazing. Just to mention a couple, Carl Weathers aka Apollo Creed, and Janet Jackson. That will be a story for later.)

Vons Supermarket

Within a few months of working at The Bel Air Market, I realized the balance I needed for work and music was to be back in the valley, and closer to home. So I applied back at Vons. Having left Vons on great terms, I was given the opportunity to be rehired. It was a very welcoming moment.

Looking back on the law firm opportunity, I got to experience life in a professional office environment, and all that it has to offer. I learned a lot of great lessons about life, and I met some incredibly intelligent people. Here is that story if you want to read: Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue Law Firm

I also learned that the grocery industry afforded me the income and the much needed flexibility to pursue my music goals. It really was the perfect balance of responsibility and freedom to pursue my goals.

Upon getting hired at Vons, I started at the store located on Ventura Avenue in the heart of the valley. It was another super busy store. On one side of Ventura Blvd, there were middle class apartments and homes. On the other side of Ventura Blvd, were multi-million dollar homes in the hills.

With this, our customer base was very broad and very hard to please. It seemed like everyone found something to complain about everyday and all the time. The positive side was, it was a good place to learn how to negotiate with people and learn how to please the impossible customer.

After some time, I moved from the valley to West Lake. This was a good move for me and music. By living in the West Lake area, I was able to play more music gigs and meet other musicians.

Lucky Stores Again!

The hard part was still the drive from West Lake back into the valley. To make my work commute manageable, I was able to get hired back at Lucky's, which was closer to where I now lived.

I only worked at this Lucky store for about a year. I discovered that this particular Lucky's store location was not the same Lucky's store vibe I remembered being so enjoyable. This temporary move turned out to be a blessing though.

I know I was all over the place at this time in my life, but the grocery business was a one constant I could always count on.

Back To Vons

I knew I enjoyed the grocery business and meeting people. I also realized I how much I enjoyed Vons specifically. I was able to get hired back and got assigned to a very nice store in West Lake. This was very close to where I lived.

There were so many nice people at this store. JP the manager was so cool and nice to work with. After I had been there for awhile, he would even ask me to house sit for him and his family when they went on vacation. There were a lot of great people at this store.

The managers were also very accommodating for my music gig schedule. They always managed to make sure I was off so I could play my gigs. Even on one occasion, when a recording session went a few hours over. I called them to advise I would be there, but it would be late. They did not write me up for a violation, or penalize me. They were so nice. I did make it there later though , and I finished my assigned work for the night.

One of the interesting aspects of working at Vons in West Lake was that there were also a lot of famous people that lived in the area. Again, the who's who list of customers I got to help was pretty amazing. Just to mention a couple, Eddie Money and Sean Connery. That will be a story for later.

So this Von's store, like Save Mart, and my first Lucky's store have many wonderful memories, and some sad memories. Vons in West Lake was the last store I worked at before leaving the business for a shot a my life-long goal, a full time music career.

Shortly before leaving the grocery industry, again, I wanted to test the waters first, to experience what it might be like financially, to only have one source of income, that being a full time music career. So I took one month of vacation from work and just counted the money I earned playing music gigs. Once I saw that it could work, I gave my two week notice at Vons.

I was so excited to see that finally, my dream was becoming a reality. But also I knew I would truly miss some great people who were my friends.

Fast Forward

As the years moved forward, I was grateful to have experienced a successful career in the music business. A recording contract at Capital Records, a Platinum record, many TV appearances, film scoring, and becoming a Grammy voting member.

At this point in my life I did a lot of soul searching, and decided to become a police officer. So once again, it was time to put into motion a path towards this new goal. With a lot of support from family, the law enforcement roadmap began to materialize. After months of work, I was finally accepted into the police academy and on the long road to becoming a police officer.

With this new opportunity, I still needed to find that win/win balance between providing an income and attending the police academy at the same time. I drew upon what I knew and what I could always count on, yes, the grocery business.

Albertson's Grocery Store

I applied at a few grocery stores in town, and within a short period of time, I received a call from Albertson's. I was so lucky to get hired. The Alberston's store where I was going to be working was located less than one mile away from the academy. It was about as perfect as you could hope. (Side note: Publix grocery store called me about a few days later, but I was already hired. Publix will come back into the story later.)

My Actual Name Badge

My new routine: the academy from 12p - 9p and then work at Albertson's till about 3am or 4am. Then repeat the process all over again for several months.

I give a lot of thanks to Albertson's. They knew I was not planning, or hoping to be working there too long. They still hired me knowing it was probably going to be just a short time frame. The goal was, I would graduate and get hired at an law enforcement agency somewhere. I have a lot to be thankful for because of the opportunity Albertson's provided me.

Their management also very kind and even awarded me "Employee of the Month" for October 2001. I had never gotten one of those awards in the grocery business. It was so cool! Especially when you see the date of the award: It was one month after 9/11.

Albertson's Employee of the Month

Upon graduating the academy I did get hired at an agency, I was so happy. Albertson's helped make that possible. Here is the law enforcement story if you want to read: Who, What, Where, When, & Why

Fast Forward Again

After 20 great years in law enforcement, it was time to retire. I did not want to retire without having some stability for my transition back into civilian life. A lot had changed for me in 20 years, and I needed something familiar that I knew, Something that would be my happy place again. Yes, it was the grocery business.

Publix Grocery Store

There's a saying in Florida: When you retire, you go work for Publix. It's a great employee owned grocery company, and their ratings are very good: "Named as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For."

So before I put in my two weeks notice at the law enforcement agency, I applied at Publix and was so grateful to the store manager, district manager, and meat manager who approved my application that same day.

My Publix Name Badge

With this, I submitted my letter to the agency. I was now officially scheduled for my first day at Publix, just a two days after I officially retired. I was hired for the meat department, which was one of the last departments I had never worked before. This opportunity was a very nice way to go back into the grocery business.

Working at Publix was hard work but a lot of fun too. I got to meet some amazing people who are highly educated and talented in so many ways. (You know who you are :)

It was so much fun to be back in the grocery industry again. After a few years at Publix, and acquiring their coveted employee owned stock, I felt that I completed my transition back into normal civilian life.

Finally, I was just meeting people for who they were, and who I was. I was just enjoying being me, Jeff.

All Back To The Beginning

So as it was, the grocery industry gave me so many wonderful memories and opportunities. The ability to support myself and provide a stable grounding foundation in my life. To move to new areas, and to even exit the industry and return while working towards new goals in life.

What a wonderful grocery career I was afforded. One that allowed me to come back many times to pursue new dreams. Even after all those years, the grocery industry also gave me a pension.

So like a story about a good movie, it's actually a story about life and the people you get to meet while working in the grocery industry. It's was the vehicle for my life and paths traveled. The grocery business is, and always will be, a welcoming place in my life.