Forty years ago, I walked into UPS and applied for a job to load trailers. They paid $8 per hour with overtime after five hours; minimum wage was $3.13. At the time, only 1 out of 8 applicants was offered a job. I wore dress pants, button-down shirt, tie, dress shoes – to interview for a manual labor job. I was offered the job and started a week later.

On day one, my supervisor, who was 6 foot 10, met me in HR and told me to follow him. I wasn’t keeping up with him and he stopped and said, “If you can’t keep up with me, then this isn’t the job for you, and you can leave.” So, I started jogging because I told myself, “You are not going to lose this job.” They put me in the back of a dirty, dusty, hot trailer and told me I had to load 600 packages per hour if I wanted to make seniority. If I didn’t make production, was late or missed a day of work – no seniority – no job!

I was nervous, because this job could change my life. It would allow to me pay for my college tuition and my living expenses without going into debt. I was committed to do whatever it took to get my 30 days in and gain seniority. Within a week I was loading well over the production target and received my seniority. I worked in the warehouse moving packages for a year, and then was approached about going into management, which I did for three years. After I graduated from college, I became a full-time package driver and delivered for a year, and then went back into management.

Over the next 35 years, I moved nine times for UPS, worked many 15-hour days, and skipped a lot of vacations. I had to work most holidays, so I was seldom able to come back to Minnesota and see my family and friends. This was especially true on Thanksgivings and Christmas, which are peak periods for UPS. During that time, I worked a variety of shifts around the clock, which meant that while most people were enjoying their holiday, weekends, and evenings, or sleeping, I was dealing with diesel dust, people, and cardboard. UPS valued integrity, teamwork, and commitment. If we told someone we would do something, then we did it, no excuses. These were values that were engrained in us from day one at UPS.

Over the years, I continued to work hard, and much was expected of me, but it wasn’t just me, the long hours and constant moving was a challenge for the entire family. Nine moves take a toll on a family. We quickly discovered that “Minnesota nice” doesn’t exist everywhere. Eventually, my wife and I divorced after 23 years.

Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of good times, good friends, good memories, and the compensation I received allowed me to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family, including the ability to send both of my kids to private school, debt free.

I often get asked why I stayed at UPS. My answer is always, the people and the camaraderie. Every day was a new challenge, and the only way to be successful was to work together as a team. When you work 12-15 hours per day with a group of people, they become your second family.

It’s funny, early on in my career I saw how people from UPS would retire next to one another and continue to hang out into retirement. I thought it was crazy. Now I have a place in Florida and within 20 minutes are four of my friends from UPS. Then there are another handful that I still speak to every week.

On Thursday, I’m going back to the Minneapolis hub – where my career started 40 years to the day – and I’ll be walking out for the last time. I’ll then be heading over to a local pub and meeting a handful of folks that I’ve known for almost 40 years to reminisce.