From Matchboxes to Trucks

Amy Garza From Matchboxes to Trucks by Amy Garza Layman and professionals alike have said, "Some people are born to be leaders, some are born to be followers." But I disagree. I believe that an individual is trained for his ultimate position by the experiences of life itself; that is, if he takes advantage of these experiences. Looking back on my life as a girl growing up in a poor mountain home in Tuckasegee , North Carolina, I now realize that there were many unseen signposts along theway. Theymarkedmyjourneytoward the position I hold today in the business world. 27 The oldest of three children in a family where our mother was almost constantly ill, I assumed responsibility early in life. I had to make "grown-up" decisions with a child's mind. For example, when I saw my mother takingmore sleepingpills than she should, I would slip into her room and steal the bottle shekeptunder herpillow and throw it away, pills and all. Later, when she discovered the theft, she punished me severely formy "crime"-and yet, the next time she "overdosed," I would steal the pills again. For years I washed, sewed, cooked, and took care of my brother and sister, David and Doris. Then, at night, I would study my textbooks by the light of the kerosene lamp. Responsibility became the whip under which I worked, and it became a large part of my personality. During these years, I would sometimes sit on the pile of pinewood Daddy had prepared for the cookstove, and dream of the careerImighthave someday. To some, ajob isjust ajob; to others, it means much more. If you have a career in mind, you plan for it, striving for the appropriate training and education. But some careers are simply your destiny. In the mountainside close to our house, Doris, David, and I built a little city. We made buildings from old tomato soup cans; we fashionedhomes from eggshells; we turned fruitjars upside down to represent water towers. We even put up filling stations where straight wooden clothespins servedas gaspumps. Theroadsystem weconstructedwoundall around the bank, up and down, and beneath the overhang of the gravelled road above our house. And since we had no store-bought toy cars, we manufactured our own from matchboxes and small aspirin bottles. I hauled all kinds of loads in my matchbox dump truck-mostly "logs' (broken sticks)-unloading my shipment at my brother's "sawmill" on the other side of the bank. There were times when I would wreck my dump truck, and I can remember even to this day the trauma of having to let it float down the nearby creek. Little did I realize that thirty-five years later, in 1985, 1wouldbe sitting behindthe desk of my own truck-trailer repair shop, making even more traumatic decisions. To hold ajob is in itselfaresponsibilitya responsibility to your employer, but more importantly to yourself. Your success in the position you hold will depend mainly on your attitude and resiliency. A positive outlook and a stick-to-it attitude are absolutely essential. I was quite optimistic when I left home to take advantage of the rumored "freedom " offered by the United States Air Force. As Iflew away fromthe spruce and fir forests of home, in mid-July 1960, bound for San Antonio, Texas, I was frightened, but I was excited, too. The next six long tough years I spent drilling in the hot Texas sun, scrubbing barracks and latrines, pulling KP, starching my skirts until they could stand alone, and making my bed so tight that the training instructor could bounce a silver dollar offthe blanket. But then, at the end ofmy basic training, everything seemed to change for the better. On graduation day, in my dress uniform-back straight, head high-I was one of the many in an awardwinning squadron that marched proudly behindits flag. Deep within meI feltpride thatwould not go away. I had entered-and I had grown. My tour of duty was spent in San Francisco , California. Here Igainedinvaluable experience in accounting and finance. It was here that I also met and married Bob, with whom I have enjoyed twenty-four years of marriage. When our...