NOTE: If you would prefer to listen, click here for an audio version of this blog post. When prompted, click the following: Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4
NOTE: Click here for Part 9: Where I worked – McDonald’s on (1) Colorado Blvd; & (2) Leetsdale Dr.; click here for Part 11: Where I worked – Mountain Bell on Zuni St. (cont’d.), supervisor – the challenges.
I left McDonald’s to begin my second stint as a telephone operator. The first had been in Shawnee, Oklahoma, working for Southwestern Bell on the old cordboard. That’s where I had met my best friend, Bob Morris, on March 18, 1974, when we started to work on the same day. I worked there for 15 months before resigning to go to law school.
Mountain Bell Telephone Co. Operators Building, 2626 W. Evans Ave., Denver, operator (March 1978-November 1978)
Now, 4 years later, on March 27, 1978, I went to work at the Mountain Bell operators building at 2626 W. Evans Ave. in Denver, just a few blocks south of our house on Vallejo St. In the four intervening years, the Bell System had computerized its operator offices. I was now working on the new TSPS push-button board. So I worked both of these systems. Nowadays even the furthest long distance calls are placed via cell phone without the aid of an operator. In 1978, even though direct-dialing had been operational for almost two decades, operators were still kept plenty busy.
Life as a telephone operator can get pretty tedious, so you get your entertainment where you can. Bob used to remind me about the “games” we would play when we sat next to each other at the cordboard – competing with each other to see who could take the most calls in a specified time period, keeping a tally on a sheet of paper between us, etc. “Entertainment” can also come in the form of placing a call to or from someone famous – or someone who is connected to someone famous. In Shawnee, I once placed a call from the local newspaper to Mike Royko in Chicago, a nationally syndicated columnist whom I read regularly. In Denver, I remember placing a call from a reporter calling back to his newspaper office in South Africa; the U.S. Open Tournament was taking place in Denver that weekend, featuring South African golfer Gary Player. I also once placed a call from a young woman, who identified herself as Cathy Rich, to a member of her father’s band, her father being the renowned drummer Buddy Rich.
I had to work for Mountain Bell for 6 months before requesting a transfer. As soon as I was eligible, I started filling out transfer applications, looking for something that might offer greater opportunity for advancement. In late November 1978, I received a transfer to a clerical position as service order analyst in Mountain Bell’s Accounting department at 5325 Zuni, about 10 minutes northwest of downtown.
During my Denver nostalgia tour, I drove out to the old Mountain Bell operators building on Evans. It is no longer a telephone company building. It is now the Ruben Valdez Achievement Campus.
Mountain Bell Telephone Co. Accounting Building, 5325 Zuni St., Denver, service order analyst (November 1978-October 1981)
I worked in the Mountain Bell Accounting building at 5325 Zuni for almost 5½ years, beginning with almost 3 years as a service order analyst in the 9116s Unit before my promotion to management in October 1981. 9116 was the number of the form involved in our work. It was a long time ago, and I don’t remember much about this job, except for using microfiche to access customer records.
During my Denver nostalgia tour, I drove out to 5325 Zuni. The building looks much the same as it did when I worked there. Of course, there have been many changes in the company over the years, beginning with divestiture from AT&T (January 1, 1984); since then, the company name has gone from Mountain Bell to US West to . . . well, I left the company in 1987 and haven’t really kept track, but I know there have been other names since.
The 9116s Unit was a good group, and I had good bosses during my almost three years there – Louise Doyle, Liz Falagrady, Norma Diesing, and Myrna Huffman. When Joanna got pregnant in 1981, the office gave us a baby shower.
Mountain Bell had a training center, located southwest, not far from our two South Independence houses (August 1980-August 1987). At one point, my boss, Myrna Huffman, identified me as a candidate for management and sent me to the training center for management assessment, aka HRA (Human Resources Assessment). I received a very high score. One day in September 1981, Myrna called me to her desk and told me that I was to go to the 5th floor for an interview with Kathy McKibbin, a 2nd-level manager. Kathy informed me that there would soon be an opening for supervisor of the Billing Adjustments Unit, which was among the offices she managed. We visited and she asked me questions, probing my qualifications. On October 6, the announcement was made that I was being promoted to 1st-level management as supervisor of the Billing Adjustments Unit in Room 516.