There was considerable distance between my graduating St.William and my return. That time was full of learning lessons and odd jobs, once achieving management status at a local record and tapes store. But that material is for my never to be written autobiography. This is St William centric.
Given my proximity to St.William and allegiance to same, I don't know why but I had strayed. I wasn't attending church and had no expectation of ever walking the school hallways again.
Until......
My mother,as devoted to the Lord as anyone I have ever known, alerted me to a small blurb in the church bulletin that sought writers for a new parish fundraiser called "Clowning At the Corners".
As many young people do,I had dreams of pursuing a career. I wanted to be a writer when I grew up and I'm not sure how it happened but I had grown up. I was always on the lookout for writing opportunities and while I wasn't terribly excited about the prospect of writing for something I knew nothing about, I hesitantly responded to the ad and the response was rapid.
A priest named Fr.Walt called me and based on my thin experience as a writer at that time, he offered me not just the opportunity to write for this "Clowning At the Corners" fundraiser but to chair its writing committee. I sheepishly accepted and this turned out to be my ticket back to the faith that I was raised in and my reunion with St.William that would last for decades.
Soon enough I found myself in a room with Amy ,Mike, John and Marge tasked with the job of helping directors who were putting on one of the many shows to be presented at Clowning. And I was having fun. Once I had hoped the job would pay but what it kick started for me meant more than money. I was determined to be myself,no standing on ceremony or being officious. My philosophy throughout my association with Clowning was that nobody needs a second job, especially one with no pay. In that spirit,my fellow writers and I got a kick out of the work we were assigned, though it was never a lot.But people who previously didnt know eachother were now friends and that was the "Clowning" event in a nutshell. It brought me back to church.
This is not a Clowning diary and though I have a hundred stories, I will stick to my relationship with St.William as an employee and file Clowning away until I remember my time as a volunteer.
As I mentioned earlier,I dreamed of being a writer and no other jobs appealed to me or caused me to seek them out. I had chosen my course and that was that.
Until.......
Father Walt ,my Clowning contact alerted me that there was a position open at St.William that offered actual money. While I had hoped for something more prestigious this was as an assistant custodian. I was not captivated by this. After all,I was a writer. I was writing for a very popular local tv show, and sure that this was a mere stepping stone to bigger and better things. But in the end,the lure of working so near home ,getting paid regularly and having St.William back in my life due to Clowning, I accepted.
I had absolutely no qualifications for this assignment.I was at the mercy of the head custodian named Dante,a quirky Italian who spoke with the accent and was one of the most entertaining persons I had ever met. Don't get me wrong, Dante was a good man and when he felt like working he did his job well. When he didn't feel like working he would drive home for extra long lunch hours and sneak home well before he was supposed to leave. That's right,there were times when the entire school,two buildings, were entrusted to me, a guy who had to consult a manual to change a light bulb.
I was fortunate to work with another guy who was the brother of a good friend. His name was Manny and we became very good friends. Manny knew stuff. He was capable ,devoted to his duties and funny as heck. Dan,Manny and I had so many laughs it didn't matter that our principal,Sister Barbara was all business and as strict as they come. Manny didn't suffer fools gladly and while Sister Barbara was no fool, she was ,on occasion, difficult and Manny made his discontent with her known. I witnessed him going into her office flustered a couple of times and I think it was better for both when Manny left for greener pastures which meant just Dan and I which often meant just me.
I was off to a slow start in this new field and Dan, the vetetan custodian was not patient with this rookie.
"You don't know how to work!"he yelled at me early on.
What he meant was I didnt work the way he did. I had my way of doing things,he had his. We had 4 or 5 good arguments during my much longer than intended tenure there. There would be short periods where we didnt speak but it was never long before he would have me laughing again with funny stories in that deep accent and doing impressions of some St.William staff. He did a spot on impression of our pastor at the time, on request for anyone who wanted to see it.
Dan had a volatile temper and wasnt always receptive to requests from teachers and staff which of course,was part of the job. As a result, sometimes faculty members were hesitant to make requests of him. I was in fairly good stead with the teachers. After all I was sweeping their rooms each day after classes and if they were in the room as I worked, we would invariably chat cordially and I even showed my real personality,peppering those conversations with bits of humor.
As a result,some teachers saw me as more approachable than Dan, so often I was the go between for their requests.
My life as an employee at my alma mater got better with a change of principal.
Sister Barbara was most capable but in my opinion, not as proficient with people skills.
Enter Mrs.Linda with a mega watt smile and a pleasant personality, the first lay teacher to ever become principal of St William. Reflections on her and what I learned from my second go around at a St.William education...from the inside this time, is next.
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