College Drop Out

In February of 1978, I dropped out of College at Ferris State only lasting two trimesters. I was 20 years old and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. I had no dreams. I had no aspirations. I had no clue. But what I did have was a ton of fear. I was petrified in that I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Working at the car wash or gas station didn’t seem like much of a career choice.

As I was packing up my belongings and heading back to Flint those were the only two options that I saw. I remember my dad asking me, “So, what are you going to do when you get back to Flint? You can’t sit around and do nothing.” I told him I wasn’t sure, “Do you have any ideas” I asked him. He told me that he had an idea and would let me know in a few days if his idea was an option. 

Keep On Truckin Baby!

Since my dad was in the building business he had several connections in that space. One of his friends owned a Redi-Mix company in Flint, Genesee Cement. My dad told me about the possibility. He said, “What do you think about driving a truck?” I didn’t care about the pay. I didn’t care about the truck. I didn’t care about the hours. I didn’t care about anything other than getting the job. I knew it had to be better than working at the gas station or the car wash. Besides, I like driving. I told my dad, “Yeah, I’d love it! When do I start?” He told me I had to go down there and fill out some paperwork and I’d get started as soon as possible. When I went down there I had the meet the foreman, Harold, and he would brief me on the job. At the time I had a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner that was in primer. The car was pretty rough. It sounded better than it looked. 🤣

When I met Harold he laid everything out on a silver platter for me. When I left his office my head was spinning with jubilation. See, most of the drivers there had been there for several years. These guys were career Redi-mix drivers. They were all in their 50’s and 60’s. There was a small handful in their 40s and three other guys that were in my age range. But they were all Redi-mix drivers where seniority played a big part in how big your paycheck was.

The more seniority, the more you made. There were about 20 Redi-mix drivers. I somehow got a Carte Blanche and would become one of three “Gravel Train” drivers. I was told that I’d be making more than a lot of the Redi-mix drivers because “Train” drivers made the big bucks. 🤣 Harold told me that I’d have some “Haters” when they find out who the new Gravel Train driver is. 20 years old. No experience driving anything other than a car. The most I’d made working at the car wash or gas station was minimum wage which back then was about $2.50 an hour. I made almost 10X that which is why I was on cloud 9 when I was driving home. 

The Begging Close

On my way home I was driving through downtown Flint in the Roadrunner. I was gushing with euphoria and delight. I couldn’t believe how fast things changed. I saw a career. I saw a long-term opportunity. But actually, the next thing I saw was were red flashing lights in my review mirror. I’m like, “Oh SNAP! I can’t get a ticket!”

At the time I had like 19 points on my driving record (a bunch of speeding tickets). One more point and I’d lose my license which means I’d lose my job. When the police officer came up to my window I went into desperation and begging mode. I told him that I just got this job driving a Gravel Train at the Redi Mix plant and if I get a ticket I’ll lose my license. That had to be my all-time best closing sales pitch. 🤣 I begged and pleaded with him and he gave me a warning. Wow! I didn’t think that was possible. 

Conclusion

The next five years were to become the best five years of my life. I had a great paying job. I had a long-term career path. I was making excellent money. I loved my job. I was on cloud nine in that I really had it all in my early 20s. But the one thing I didn’t have was God. He was the furthest thing from my mind. I was living in sin but of course, back then there was no such thing as sin in my opinion. There was no such thing as God as far as I was concerned. But in retrospect, God was watching over me. Protecting me. Placing micro steps that would eventually lead me to the front doors of the Kingdom.