Retrofit and “The Swamp”

When I worked at MDC, I spent the majority of my time in the retrofit department, which was unusual for many departments but it was more common for many people that worked in retrofit.  It has always been a diverse group of individuals and the work was interesting plus came with some degree of authority because it crossed many areas within the company, therefore people in retrofit needed to acquire knowledge of processes outside retrofit.

We were a close-knit group more so back in the 80’s & 90’s than when I retired.  It was important to us to do a good job but also to have fun along the way even if some company rules were bent a little.  Which leads me to the main point of this story.  I worked in a cube with Steve M and Maria S-R and for some reason we started selling a few candy bars to other employees.  We bought them at SAMs and we sold them at a small profit and any money made we would restock plus make donations to the Christmas fund (initiated by Steve) and various other charities.  Eventually our supplies grew, as did our customer base.  We worked hard in retrofit and our work did not suffer from this side adventure but it provided us a fun distraction.  In order to celebrate our small venture we gave our cube a name, which was  “The Swamp”.  We had a welcome mat with the name painted on it as well as caps.  The name came from the very popular TV series M*A*S*H which ran from 1972 to 1983.  It was about an irreverent group of doctors during the Korean War that were skilled at their job but not interested in bureaucracy. 

“The Swamp” at MDC became very well known and was frequented by many employees as well as managers even some directors and our small little drawer of candy bars had mushroomed to a whole cabinet of tasty treats as well as a few other miscellaneous items.   "The Swamp" became so well known that many employees would give directions to others by using “The Swamp” with their instructions such as turn right after you pass “The Swamp”.

Our sideline did not receive official approval by MDC authority, we were just overlooked but since we had customers from various management levels we just considered this unofficial approval.  Some may say we stole company time but I think it provided a positive way to release the daily stress.  In many companies salaried employees are now expected to give as much time as required to get the job done without expecting extra pay, maybe companies are stealing your time.  The door swings both ways.

As I remember it we closed up shop when retrofit was relocated which happened every few years.  So what’s the point of this story, not much really it’s just an interesting memory during a time when companies were a little more flexible than they seem today.