Car Talk: Early Career Choices
Glenn M: Tom, did you practice your chemical engineering?
Tom: I was a chemical engineer at Foxboro Company.
Ray: Did they close that division since then?
Tom: It was a long, long haul from Cambridge. Actually, there were two reasons that I quit that job. One was that I wanted to work a four-day week instead of a five-day week. They wouldn't let me do that. They said, "If you do that, everyone's going to want to do it." And I said, "Well, I have three weeks of vacation coming. Can I take a day every week?" They said, "Take your vacation whenever you want." So I took 15 weeks of Fridays. Not bad, ay?
Glenn M: Not bad.
Tom: Then, it was summer, and I had no vacation. So I quit!
Ray: I have to tell you one other Tom Magliozzi story about quitting.
Ray: After Tom left the Foxboro Company, he decided he wanted to go back and earn a PhD. So he did that. Took him 22½ years, but that's another story.
He gets his PhD. He was teaching at Boston University, and then he moved to Suffolk. One day, we were sitting in our parents’ living room, and Tom says to Dad ... now, our father worked six days a week his whole life. He delivered home heating oil, and before that he delivered ice and kerosene. He worked hard carrying blocks of ice up three flights of stairs. He knew hard work his whole life. And Tom says, "I think I'm going to quit my job at Suffolk."
Tom: No, I had already quit.
Ray: Oh. Okay. And Dad said, "Well, what's the matter, you're not making enough money?" "Oh, no, they're paying me a ton of money," he said. "It's the hours that are killing me. It's just way too much responsibility." Dad asks, "Well, why don't you go and speak to your boss and maybe they can cut you down from five days to four. That would make it a little easier." And Tom says ...
Tom: ... I only work two days now!
Ray: Dad put his hands like this … he couldn't believe it! "What mistake have I made?" he was thinking.
Tom: And he kept saying, "You make that much money for two days?"
Ray: And you quit?
Tom: Yeah, well.
Tom: Let me tell you something about being unemployed: you learn how inexpensive it is to really live. I mean, when I was working, I had to buy suits. I had to have my shirts done so I'd look beautiful every day.
Ray: It didn't help.
Tom: Unemployed, I had nothing to do. I would meander down to Harvard Square. I used to go to Grendel's Den, which is still there. For two bucks they had a brunch. Two bucks, all you can eat. It went from 11:00 to 2:00. I would be there at 11:00 right on time every day to have breakfast. Then, I would sit there, smoking my cigar and reading a book. And at quarter of two, I would have lunch. For two dollars a day I was taking care of two meals!
Ray: And five hours!
Tom: It was unbelievable.