Engineers have friendship down to a science

   We’ve all said it. When a co-worker quits of retires, at least once we’ve all said, “We’ll stay in touch. We’ll do lunch.” But somehow, even though the thought is sincere, deep down inside everyone knows no one really means it.

   But some people do really mean it, like the old instrumentation group at Scientific Atlanta. Every year, for twelve years now, sixty-some “old timers” of SA past and present meet at Ryan’s Steak House for lunch.

   Back before e-mail Tom Elder, the social engineer, phoned everyone. “I still have the whole list filed on my old Lotus Amipro,” said Elder.

   SA, a Gwinnett establishment for over half a century, experienced a big change when Cisco bought it out last month. But change is nothing new at SA.

   In her 28 years with SA Janice Coker said she’s seen groups merge and split to fit the demands of the market. And when a group is sold off, the workers have to go because it’s their skills and brainpower that are being sold. Joel Fields, who now works for the spin-off company, ViaSat, said, “Everybody still works for SA. We just call it different names now.”

   Retiree Roy Heaton said, “There were so many good people there. We were always more like friends that we were workers. You can see that right here today.”

   Well, maybe that’s because SA started out as friends, and Charles Disspain, who was there every step of the way, loves to tell its history.

   “I started part time when I was thirteen years old. My dad [Paul] had a machine shop in his basement and they asked him to help, so he moved all his machinery there. My sister picked me up after school and took me there. I did janitor work and anything else they needed me to do,” he said. “When they raised the minimum wage to sixty-five cents an hour, they said I had to work overtime to get the higher rate.” 

   But those were frugal times. Every cent anyone had went into keeping the company going. “I remember when [co-founder] Glen Robinson, went on vacation with $13 in the bank and a maxed-out credit card.”

   About one third of the old gang is retired. A few changed careers like Bill Markert who sold cars, and then real estate. A few are still at SA. Leon Gilleland, a technician who for decades has been known as Leon the Peon, took gentle ribbing from old timers wanting to know if he was now the Cisco Kid. But despite all the personnel shifts at SA, the personal friendships remain stable.

   “Would you like to join us again next year?” Elder asked me.

   “I never worked for SA,” I said.

   “But you’ve become one of our friends. Give me your e-mail and I’ll put you on the list.” 

   I believe he really means it.

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