Memoirous

A few weeks ago my boss passed away. Now to be honest, Denny of Denny’s Central Park Bicycles had taken on an emeritus role at the shop. He came in 2 days a week, mostly to be available for the men’s Thursday night ride. What he did those 2 days was bring a presence that has been sorely missed, a kind of humanity to the job. We’re selling bikes to people, and those people are workers, students, seniors, children=all needing bikes for fun and recreation and as a mode for travel. He encouraged our service department, our bike builders. All bikes sold from Denny’s had his name on them, a decal on the seat tube down near the crank. Monday, August 7 we’ll have a celebration of life for Denny. One thing I’d like to pay tribute to is something he said that can extend to all areas. Always let the last word be thank you. Sometimes a boss can say something that seems obvious. In fact I’d just gotten done saying thank you to the customer at the till, yet as he was going out the door Denny sho...

So if this blog is a diary of sorts, a way for me to talk about my life and as well as memories, then let me report: Everyone wants a bike. When I wake up before work, I’m lately feeling a weight, anxious. I know once I get to work it is going to be chaos, a build up to frantic demand. We could have several customers lined up at the register and many more out on the floor all needing time and attention toward their decision to purchase—you name it: lights, a lock, a helmet, a bicycle. It is up to us, me, to show them how an item works, answer questions, and work with them on fit and size. It’s amazing how little or how much a person may know. For some a bike is that thing with wheels, so to talk about tire size or the number of gears is getting way too technical. For some they have read every review and know way more than me. All of this can be intimidating for me. I’m expected to be the expert—and I do a terrible job of masquerading. All I really want to convey to them that it i...

It occurred to me the other day as I reflected back on my year in Michigan and my first year of employment at the bike shop that a Denny’s bookends my short, varied professional career. When I was just out of high school my first job was a deep-fry cook at Wendy’s—but not for long—I went on to bigger and better things as a waitress at Denny’s restaurant. It was down the street from my house and on the way to school. I stayed long enough to earn my 5 year pin. I was terrible. Even now looking back, I ate way more than I should’ve from the cake case and consumed a lot of “mistakes.” Perhaps, it had to do with also moving out of my parent’s house and living on my own about half way through those 5 years. I don’t recall hardly ever grocery shopping. And, as opposed to my attitude now, I could care less about cleaning and sanitizing. I did the chore check-list grudgingly and didn’t look for additional projects. But, I did rake in a lot of money by today’s standards in tips. Fast forwa...