It Takes a Village...

Pam and I had lunch the other day. I love Pam, she's got a good heart, and she's a good friend. It reminded me of our shared history, which began at J.B. Robinson Jewelers.

I started at JBR in 1980 in the accounting department. I was the secretary (yes, secretary, not "Admin,") to the Controller. Later, I moved to Advertising, where I eventually ended up working for Pam. Which is where I stayed until the company was bought out by Kay Jewelers in 1986.

Larry J.B. Robinson, the Diamond Man, was at the helm. He took over the operation of a single store after his father's death and built the company into a respectable chain of jewelry stores. He espoused a philosophy of "customer first" long before it became a mantra. He believed in doing things the right way. He was a brilliant businessman, sometimes hard on sales staff, and somewhat quirky. He owned the radio airwaves for decades in Cleveland. There are still many folks who remember his catch phrases..."Are you engaged or thinking about becoming engaged?" and "You'll find a far larger, more valuable diamond for less than you'd expect to pay at J.B. Robinson Jewelers." And, of course, there were his buying trips to Antwerp, when he phoned in and recorded the calls for his radio spots.

J.B. Robinson Jewelers attracted a core of employees who were smart, dedicated, and bad ass. I hope I may count myself in this group. We worked hard, groused, and laughed a lot. Back in the day, we had to take yearly lie detector tests. The guy who administered the test would ask, "Did you ever falsify your time card so it didn't reflect the actual number of hours you worked?" We all said "Yes." When pressed, we would say it was common practice for us to punch out and continue working. He would roll his eyes and say, "Get out of here. What's wrong with you people?" We didn't tell our bosses we were doing this. It was an unspoken thing. The work had to get done. You did what you had to do.

Of course, working hard and playing hard go hand in hand. So, we get to the Village parties.

The Village was a hole-in-the-wall bar in Lakewood whose main attraction was its ability to host a sizable group of semi-rowdy 20-somethings who were looking for a way to unwind. There are many stories I'm not at liberty to discuss. Many of these I've heard from my husband, who started at JBR a few months before I did. The invitations were informal, usually a notice on the bulletin board in the lunch room. During the last year or so, I got to write the invites (Pam did the art).

A few of us got together some months ago (Sue, Damir, Frank, Tom, and Pat) and told stories about JBR. Most are familiar, some were new to me. I'm not sure what it was about the place. It was more than a job, it was a common cause. You did it the right way because if you didn't, you were screwing the people who were second in your heart only to your closest relatives.

Before there was "No I in Team" there was JBR. And there ain't been nothing like it since.