Western Auto Stories

From 1976 to 1980, I worked at a Western Auto store. The man I worked for was WG Robbins. He treated me like he treated his own family. He had worked in the insurance business long enough to buy this store. I learned much while at that job. I worked there between the ages of 15 and 19. I have a few stories that I wanna tell you:

• Getting the job - When I was 11-12, I started my own business. I bought used bicycles from people and fixed them up and sold them at a resale shop. I usually made about four to five dollars after expenses. During the spring, my dad and I took a class on small engine repair (mainly lawn mowers). On my 15th or 20th visit to Western Auto for parts, Mr. Robbins asked me what kind of things I could fix and when I told him he offered me a job. I never applied.

• Go-cart wreck - The Saturday before a family vacation, I sold a go-cart. I asked the family to come back in a couple of hours, so that I would be able to assemble and test it. I rushed to put it together, put gas and oil in it. Then I started testing in the parking lot. To test it, I did donuts until I lost control and slammed into the curb, damaging the front wheel and assorted steering components. I didn't have much time and wanted to be sure that if I got fired, it wouldn't be until I came back from the trip. I unboxed a new one, put in gas and oil and then put the damaged go-cart in that box. When I got home, I thought I would be fired, but I just had to pay Mr. Robbins for the damages.

• Mean practical joke - Once while working there, I worked with a good friend of mine named Jeff Vogler. Well, Mr. Robbins wanted another person to start working there, because his parents owed the store quite a bit of money. He thought the kid could work it off. But to do this, he dropped Jeff’s hours dramatically and I had to train this new kid. I didn’t dislike the kid, but I missed working with Jeff. We all made horrible money working there. I think I was making $1.75 an hour, so I thought of a diabolical plan so I could help Jeff get his hours back. After the kid had been working there about two weeks, I asked him what he was making and he said some low amount, which was slightly less than I was making at the time.

Me: Oh, you haven’t asked for a raise yet?
Kid: I just started here.
Me: Mr. Robbins wants people to show initiative. He expects you to ask for a raise.
Kid: Oh, I see…

So about an hour later, I was putting a bicycle together and I overheard this exchange:

Kid: I can’t hang anymore.
WG: What?
Kid: I just can’t hang anymore.
WG: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Kid: I need more money.
WG: You need more money? You just started here. You can’t do anything on your own, Eric has to show you everything. I’m not giving you a raise!!!

I’m not sure why, but the kid and WG were never the same after that. The kid stopped showing a couple of weeks later, but Jeff had started working at a grocery store across town. It was a very mean and clever trick and many times I’ve felt guilty about it.

• No crap - My boss didn't take any crap from customers. I remember the following exchange as if it happened only five years ago.

Customer: Do y'all sell inner tubes for bicycles?
WG: Yep
Customer: How much are they?
WG: $3.49.
Customer: $3.49? K-Mart sells them for $1.99!
WG: Why don’t you go buy it at K-Mart?
Customer: They’re out.
WG: Well, we give them away when we’re out!