Quick History Notes

Start Date:  May 30, 1976

Last Date:  February 2, 1989

Burger King:  Implementation Specialist

Reason for Leaving:  Move on to Full Career

Burger King- Have It Your Way

I started there when I was 14 and just began at Grand Island Senior High School in Grand Island, Nebraska. Per insurance and labor laws, at 14, I was only allowed to work at the French Fry station. I'd go home after each shift smelling like French Fries and feeling covered from head to toe in an inch of grease. Long showers ensued, but I appreciated that job. I worked there until 1980 when I left to attend college.

My college years were filled with indecision (I decided I love computers more than Nuclear Engineering), and I am proud to say that I started college with a full-ride scholarship from the Navy ROTC program.  

Sadly, just as my sophomore year began, I was goofing around in the hallway in my socks, playing catch.  Anyone who knew me then or now knows I am the least athletic type and very accident-prone in those days.  So, it was my turn to catch the ball; I had it in my sights the entire time.  When I replay it in my mind, it seems like several minutes instead of the actual seconds that it was.  I ran backward so I didn't lose sight of the ball but realized I was running out of the hallway. I was in socks with no easy way to slow down.  I reached out for the corner of the wall.  Instead of slowing down, it flipped me around to the next hall.  Little did I know that an oversized chair occupied it.  That chair had me in sight, grabbed me, and threw me around.  I heard the sound just before the pain - "pop."

Long story short, I woke up in the hospital, and my leg is now in a cast from my toes as far up as it can go.  It's big, it's white, it's plaster, it's the end of the summer but still hot.  I have been through three surgeries, correcting all the mess that the chair made of my knee.  I would be in that cast for the next nine months. Between doctor visits, extra cast changes, and two more surgeries- my scholastic record was a mess.  My scholarship was now at risk for academic issues, and I could not do the 3-mile run in the cast.  So, the Navy put me on a six-month furlough with the scholarship still in place.  

But six months didn't help.  I was still in a walking cast, not a running one.  So they did a medical discharge, I got my record changed to withdrawals, and I left college.

I went home and got my good old job back at Burger King, where I can now work any station.  Management met with me on several occasions to discuss my future.  I was clueless; they were not.  They offered to move me into the management program and said that we would discuss Burger King's college tuition program upon successful completion.  I was sure this was perfect for me.  So, I completed the management program and, within a year, was now a district manager.  I enjoyed managing a great deal.  However, they said it was unavailable whenever I asked about the tuition program. We will let you know when it is.

I finally gave up on that promise in 1982.  But I didn't quit. Instead, I was asked if I would be interested in managing a new implementation program with NCR.  I agreed; it sounded very techy and cool.  They were rolling out brand new registers to Burger Kings nationwide.  These registers were, technically speaking, far advanced and would make everyone's jobs easier.  I enjoyed that program; we completed it in 1989.  I was sure I could return to college, just not with Burger King.  So, I did leave them that year.