100th Anniversary - Guest Blog: Sears

For this week’s guest blog entry, we are honoring Sue Sears, a Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa staff member who just celebrated her 25th Anniversary with our council.  Dozens gathered together to celebrate with Sue on Friday, where she read (actually had Ruth Hamilton read) the following ‘Anniversary Speech’.

Throughout the years, many of us have laughed, cried, and shared very special memories with Sue Sears. Today, we can’t thank her enough for the humor, kindness and *sparkle* she has brought to Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa.  Thank you, Sue, for the commitment that you have shown to the mission of Girl Scouting! 

Would you like to be our next guest blogger?  Email us and tell us your story!

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25 years ago I began job hunting after staying home with my kids for 5 years. 

It was on a Monday when I applied for an office job at the Post Office and a receptionist job that was advertised at an address of 10715 Hickman Road (it didn’t say what the name of the business was). The Post Office interview went well and they were to call back by the end of the week.

Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa

The Girl Scout interview was a bit different. I was asked to take a timed typing test. I didn’t type. I locked the typewriter and Sandy Stotts, the person giving me the test, was on the phone so I’m thinking, “This is not good.” A few minutes later she came, took the test, and went to her desk.  As I heard the snickering, I was wishing I could just slide out the door I came in. 

I was asked to come with her and she would take me where I was to have my interview. I knew the big old smile on the interviewer’s face was not because she was happy to see me. Both women were trying to refrain from laughing out loud. 

Turns out this interviewer’s name was Ruth Hamilton. She started off with, “Well you got 9 words a minute on your typing test…” and by now she felt the urge to “chuckle” out loud. She proceeded to say, “Fortunately, this job will not require any typing!” We continued to chat as my red spots were creeping up my neck and out of my shirt!  We laughed and talked about the job a bit more and she said she would call me by the end of the week. 

Both places called me on Wednesday. It was a huge dilemma for me. I had to decide where I wanted to work. When Ruth called me back she told me she wasn’t offering me the job for my typing talents but for my sense of humor – she told me I would fit right in. That must have won me over because it certainly was NOT the salary! I thought after typing just 9 words a minute and she still wanted me… well that was the place I wanted to be.  I started that next week. 

The first day I started, the bookkeeper was to show me what to do. Her name was Carolyn. My first encounter with Carolyn was short and sweet. To sum it up, she basically told me, “There is the phone and you need to answer it. She, too, chuckled and went back to her office. How hard can it be? I tried answering the phone a couple times, “Good morning Moingona Girl Scouts.” I butchered the name so bad I decided to drop Moingona and shortened it to, “Good morning, Girl Scouts.” That worked much better for me. It sure seemed strange to me that everyone in the place was always laughing at something. 

In my second week, the CEO, Sharon Powell came up to me at the front counter. As she was hitting the counter with her pointer finger, she kept telling me, “Under NO circumstance at any time am I to accept collect calls.” Trust me, she made it perfectly clear. That was a mistake I would never make. By now I’m thinking to myself and wondering what the Post Office job would have been like. 

Well down the road a few days I answered the phone to an operator asking if I would accept a collect call? Hearing those two little words I immediately said “NO!” and hung up. The phone rings again, same operator, same question. I again said “NO!” The reds spots were out hot and heavy and I couldn’t wait for the day to be done. 

The next time I saw Sharon, she said, “I want you to know that was me calling ‘Collect’ the other day.” I’m thinking oh, no! At that very moment, I learned there was ONE exception to that rule! 

Here’s another good one. I had a lady come to the front counter asking to check out a bridge…? There was nobody around to ask, so I took it upon myself to take her out back and show her the only bridge I knew of. She got a very puzzled look on her face and says, “I was going to use it for my bridging ceremony tomorrow and I was under the impression it was something I could check out and take with me.” Needless to say, she left without a bridge. Becky in the shop seemed friendly so I told her the story. About 20 minutes later, she stopped laughing hysterically and explained to me there was a “check out book” under the front counter and how it all worked. She became my best friend for life at that point! 

I have accumulated so many fun stories and made so many lifelong friends, I couldn’t have picked a better place to work! I had the best bosses in the world. We were family here and truly cared about one another. We laughed every day and still did our jobs and did them well. Everything always got done. We also had the best volunteers who, too, became lifelong friends. It was and still is an organization I am proud to be a part of. I have gone through the best and the very worst times in my life right here. 

So thanks Ruth for not holding those 9 words a minute against me. I loved my job back then and I love it still today!  And you too, Chuckie.  I could write a book and a best seller at that of my past 25 years here. 

- Sue Sears

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