Summer of Jobs

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 35^th 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.