The Old Neighborhood – Donatos

I’m a deeply reflective person and a very sentimental person. Today I decided to get out of the old apartment and head down to my old neighborhood on 86th Street. It seems kind of sad, I’ve only been gone for nine months… but I really miss this place.

So I’m sitting at Starbucks (which used to be a First Indiana Bank) and looking across the street at my first real job, Donatos. You may think, a pizza place, what’s so special about that? But I’m beginning to realize how much I miss the places I’ve been in my life and the people I’ve been so grateful to have had in my life.

I started working at Donatos in 1998. I hadn’t anticipated working there, it was a toss-up between Donatos and Target… Donatos is the one that gave me the opportunity. I have so many fond memories of that place and I can only hope my words can do justice to those memories.

I can’t remember everyone I worked with, but I can remember some. Most specifically, I remember working with Brittany. She was the person closest in age to me. In fact, we were both 14-15, so we stuck together. It was so fun! We both worked in the dining room in front, answered phones in the back, answered phones, folded pizza boxes, cleaned the front… I could go on and on. Brittany and I got along great and I enjoyed working with her so much!

The best part of working there was the family atmosphere and it wasn’t hard for us, mostly because Brittany’s mom, her brother, and his girlfriend all worked there. Brittany’s mom, Kathy, is someone I will be eternally grateful. She treated me like her own, we got along so great, and she was the first one to be there for me when I found out my mom was moving to Florida. I remember the day that my Mom told me she was moving to Florida and Kathy was the first person I went to. I walked back into the kitchen, and just gave her a big hug and started sobbing. And she was there for me every step of the way.

We had a great crew… I even remember working with Ben, a guy who was 40 or so, he was a special needs guy. If you’ve ever worked in the restaurant industry or retail… chances are you’ve run into them. While they’re typically “stable,” they still need occasional attention and usually live with their aging parents. Ben was one of those guys. He had a good heart and was always trying to show me how to do things, even though I already knew what I was doing, but I went ahead and played along.

As I think about Donatos, I think about Larry. Larry was a big guy with a big heart… I guess you could think of him as an uncle… just one of those great guys. I don’t remember much about Larry, but remember him just being a great guy… he eventually had to leave due to health problems.

It seems like I’m blabbering on as I just let all these memories out… and they’re memories that are special to me and may not have any significance to anyone else. But here are some of my special Donatos memories:

Working on Christmas Eve
I remember we were open for Christmas Eve and we expected it to be slow. I brought in my DiscMan and some speakers and played Christmas music. It was me, Brittany, Kathy, Jason, and Tonya working. I didn’t mind working Christmas Eve because I loved these people. It wasn’t really busy, but we just had a good time hanging out. I remember helping Tonya close the store (which was really cool because I was 15 and usually wasn’t around/allowed to help close). We locked up and Tonya drove me home.

Snow Days
Back in those days, I didn’t think it was possible for us to be closed. I had a paper route growing up, so regardless of the weather, I always had to work. There were a few times that I would trudge through plenty of snow, only to make it to the store and find out that we decided to close. I would usually shovel the sidewalks and straighten up the dining room and go home. Snow days were fun for another reason, it’s usually crazy. The truth is, people don’t like to drive in the snow, so all the delivery drivers would call off work and the managers and district managers would go out in their trucks to make deliveries.

It Was a Place Where Management Were Friends With the Crew
I don’t remember every manager and assistant manager I worked with. I remember Larry, Brent, Kathy, Emily, Matt, Steve. But the one person that stuck out to me was Todd Young… he was our district manager. With this place being my first job, I didn’t realize how lucky I was to work with him. In the coming years, I would work at Marsh where having a good district manager who rolled up his sleeves to help would be nowhere in sight. Todd was always in a great mood, always spending time on the make table with the crew (not in the manager’s office with the store manager), he always made us feel valued. So Todd, if you come across this some day, know that you’re totally awesome.

Those Summer Nights
I didn’t have much of a social life back then, so I didn’t mind working afternoon/evening shifts during the spring and summer. My favorite memories, as sad as it sounds, is just propping the drive-thru window open and letting the cool breeze hit me as I was proofing the dough and saucing the pizzas. I also enjoyed the slow times when people would go outside for a smoke, I didn’t smoke myself, but it was just nice to chill outside and take a break.

Man! I have so many memories of that place… maybe I’ll have to make this post a two-parter. I know that once I start reminiscing about Marsh, I’ll have to divide it up into several posts, since I worked there for over eight years. Anyway, that’s all I have for now. I miss working at Donatos and miss the people I worked with, you all were truly awesome.