The
past couple of weeks, I've been working at ACCO (formerly
Mead-WestVaco). Well, for all intents and purposes, I haven't worked
here the entire summer, just a few weeks as a temp employee. My
step-grandmother works there (she just celebrated her 35th
year). It's been awesome to have that connection; because of her and
my aunt, I got the temp job until I go back to school. Not only that,
but people recognize my last name and the family connection and I
probably get treated better there because of it.
Anyways, ACCO is a
factory in Sidney, NY that produces paper products. The reason I am
working there as a temp is because they just bought out/gained a
factory that produces products called “Daytimer.” Daytimer makes
planners, address books, organizers, and other office products, That
was the section of the factory in which I was placed.
The work I usually
do revolves around working on a conveyor belt. I've gotten product
ready to put into the machines, fed product into the machines, and
placed product into boxes. When the machines break down, you're
supposed to clean up the area in which you're working in, meaning
sweeping the area, tidying up your area, etc. Sometimes, if a machine
isn't working, you're moved somewhere else, sometimes to the other
end of the plant. I can say one thing, it's very loud. Oftentimes,
you have to wear hearing protection because of how loud the machines
are. It's not a strange sight to see people walking by with earplugs
tied around their necks. Then again, it's a necessary safety
precaution—if you decided not to wear earplugs and worked there for
several years, it'd be practically guaranteed you'd suffer from
hearing loss.
There aren't very
many words to describe the immensity of this factory. There are
hundreds, maybe thousands of people working there. It's a very clean,
bustling factory, and I'd like to say that this factory is hopefully
the future of true-blooded American industry (especially since they
added the entire new department to the factory). Too many things are
now imported, and it's pretty cool that American industry still
exists at all, let alone in Central New York state.
So yes, this is
what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks. I've actually been
working overtime, 45 hours a week. Pretty crazy considering that I
haven't really been working at all this summer; only a botched job at
a farm and a temp job at a shipping place. After next week, I won't
be working anymore at ACCO, as I have to go back to school for my
last year. I'm definitely cutting it close though—I work 9 hours
the day before I have to go back—and it's an 4 hour drive up. I
think that I'm going to have to start packing pretty soon for that.
All in all it's
been worth it though. I've experienced a taste of industry in Central
New York, and I will have enough money to buy my books online and
save some money this year. A pretty nice turnout, overall.
