Memoir Writing Prompt: Who was your favorite boss?

I remember as a child, yelling at my older brother and sister, “You’re not my boss!” Actually, my sister was my boss; I hung on her every word. She told me what to do and what not to do – how to behave and what not to say. That was the most difficult for me, because I tended to talk a lot. But I knew my sister loved me and wanted only the best for me.

Since those days, I have worked for many bosses all having different managerial styles. And I can say, I learned something from each and every boss, even the one whose system of management I didn’t appreciate. Most of my managers had university degrees. However, recently, at the age of ninety-four, my favorite boss, Don Fish, told me he never graduated from high school. When he hit the tenth grade, he knew he wanted to be a farmer and forged out to be the best he could be.

As a high school junior, I worked as a waitress at our neighbor’s Dairyland Farms in Mansfield, PA. Actually, I had two bosses there, Don and Martha Fish. Together, they built a huge farm with a store in front. They sold fresh milk and chocolate milk in returnable gallon jars, ice cream made on site, and many other farm products. They also had a restaurant where the menu offered juicy hamburgers and the most scrumptious milkshakes and homemade pies. Martha made potato salad and macaroni salad every day that equaled my mom’s (a high standard in my eyes).

I had learned the life lesson of hard work on our own farm with my parents as visual role models every day. However, I had never equated that to the business world. Watching Don and Martha approach every customer with smiles and respect taught me the importance of relational business. They took pride in producing quality products and built a thriving business on that premise. Don made the midnight cleanups fun, singing and dancing as we mopped the floors and restocked shelves.

Don and Martha’s outlook and approach to their business rubbed off on the employees. Even though I only made eighty cents an hour, I loved working at Dairyland! these two bosses taught me good business practices, and they respected me enough to expect me to do my job in the same way.

Memoir Writing Prompt: Who was your favorite boss? What life lesson(s) did you learn from him/her? How have you used that life lesson over the years?

Have fun writing for your generations to come.