Charley Wight

Sayreville War Memorial High School

Class of 1970

→ Join 1484 Alumni from Sayreville War Memorial High School that have already claimed their alumni profiles.
→ There are 67 classes, starting with the class of 1951 all the way up to class of 2023.

CHARLEY'S PROFILE

This is a limited view of Charley's profile, register for free or login to view all their profile information.

Charley Wight - Class of 1970 - Sayreville War Memorial High School

First Name	Charley
Last Name	Wight
Graduation Year	Class of 1970
Gender	Male
Hometown	Brooklyn, New York
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	Once upon a time I had a "real job". You know, "a career type job". Well, truth be told, I've had several. And each was kind of a step-up in prestige and salary. From a chemical operator, making technical "White Oils" in a refinery to Corporate Director of Health, Safety and Environmental Affairs in both Chemical and Manufacturing Companies. While not a "Road Warrior", I did spend about half my time traveling to different plant sites throughout most of the states east of the Mississippi. I knew my job well and was respected by both management and peers for my knowledge, integrity, honesty and dedication to getting the job done. I was also respected by the supervisors and employees at each of the companies and known as a "down to earth", fair and honest manager that "any employee" could talk to without fear of any repercussion. While I didn't make a "fortune", the salaries were reasonable and I was comfortable. I've never been a "MONEY" type of a person and if I had it, I spent it. LOL - and usually not on things that would assist me in the "future". Vacations in Key West, Las Vegas and Orlando were my favorites. Casino's are a weakness of mine. Some say it's a sickness and I will not dispute that fact. I may not have lost enough to build a new casino floor, but certainly enough to furnish several rooms. And even though it's been a few years since I've set foot on a casino floor, the urge remains. I digress. The last real "position" I held was back in June of 2009 when I was blind sided by management and laid off due to the illegal activities they conducted several years prior to my coming there. The company was convicted for stealing several millions of jet fuel while working at Miami International Airport. They were heavily fined and lost all Local, State and Federal government contracts for a minimum of 5 years. You can't put a company in jail but they did manage to convict the owner's best friend who was one of the "principals" during the thefts and he received a 10 year sentence in a FL Prison. Somehow, the owner was found "not-guilty". Well, not-guilty does not mean "innocent" and some of the people "in-the-know" have said that he too should be sharing a cell with his friend. But having a multi-million dollar company and a great lawyer is a wonderful thing in this country. "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit" ( LOL ). So, here I am, a few years and over one thousand resume submissions later, still searching for a position. OK, I do have a job. But, it's just that. A job. Minimum wage, no benefits and part-time. I know that the economy is bad. I know that most companies that are hiring have raised "the bar" and are looking for the "BEST" that they can get. I also know that when they review a resume, they can easily estimate the age of the candidate. Job History (earliest employment), Education (when and where did you attend school) as well as Military Service (they all ask that now - not so much as an exact date, but ERA of Service). Hey, Viet Nam ended around 1975 right? Hmmmmmm, that was 37 years ago. This candidate had to be at least 19 or 20 to be there. YIKES, that makes this person at least 56 and probably older. Do we want someone that old? Probably be a burden on our Medical Insurance. Older person like that, arthritis, back problems, heart issues. No, we don't think so. And just like that, a resume is tossed into the circular file (LOL - for those to young to get it, it means "trash can"). And how do I know this? From the amount of resumes sent out versus the actual responses received back. Even when I kind of "omit" some information and actually get a call back, the ensuing phone interview usually reveals the omission and I don't even get a "follow-up" thanks but no thanks response. And the interviews I actually get? Well, there have been many and most have ended with the similar results. "Thank you, however, we have decided to fill the position internally". OK, that's a bunch of crap. My positions have frequently placed me alongside the HR/Hiring Manager and we fill from within FIRST. Never did we outsource or resume search until we exhausted our in-house or in-company resources. Or, "Thank you, however we have decided to move in another direction with this position". Hmmm, no, I don't think so. Once a decision has been made to hire a new manager, there's a number of factors that went into that decision. It could be a direct replacement of a leaving employee (found a new position or retiring) and the position is to complex to farm out to other managers. It might be a new position that Corporate Management feels necessary to ensure protocols, policies and procedures are being carried out and not just penciled in by supervisors and plant managers. Or possibly a position deemed necessary by a regulatory agency. In any event, companies do not just "go another direction" when hiring for those positions I have applied for. Long story short. I'm getting old. And, having sat in the HR/Hiring Manager office during those times of resume review and hiring new managers, I fully understand their logic. Possible medical issues. He's old and likely set in his ways. Do we want to try to bend him to "OUR WILL" and our way of doing things? He's old, very knowledgeable, highly experienced and will want a lot of money? Why go with him when for a lot less money we can get a new engineer right out of school and mold them into the manager we want? He's old and won't be around very long. We need someone with longevity who will be here for a long time, not some old fart with one foot in the grave. What's he got, 3, 4, maybe 5 years tops? Nope, next candidate. So, age discrimination, while illegal, exists. It is nearly impossible to prove, unless they come right out and tell you to your face that you are too old. Finding a "JOB" is a lot more difficult than in the "old days" when you walked in and filled out an application. Now, you walk in and they tell you to go to their computer and fill it out on line. Yeah, been there, done that and it might take 6 to 9 months before you get a response, if you get a response at all. Same thing if they tell you to go home and use your own computer and go to their website. ARE YOU SERIOUS, DELIRIOUS OR JUST PLAIN CRAZY? I'm talking entry level, high school drop out positions like "McDonalds", Burger King", Grocery Store Stock Clerk", "Floor Cleaner". And the application process is not only slow, tedious, boring and information intensive, you frequently fill it out and either get booted off before you have a chance to "SUBMIT" or some other mishap in cyberspace causes you to have to re-do the application 2 or 3 times before it is accepted. And then there are those companies that farm out the process to a third-party. Now you have to register with a different agency nearly each time you try to send in a job app. Ahhhh, for the old days. Summing it up. Am I bitter? OH YEAH. Quite a bit. I've come to realize that it's likely that I'll never have another "position". You know, a real job with decent wages, some kind of benefit program and reasonable hours where I can earn enough so that we won't have to worry about paying our rent on time or having to scrimp or even skip a meal or 3 in order to have enough to pay our bills. I'm bitter because it appears that I'm to old to work but to young to collect Social Security. And nowadays, even Social Security is not enough for someone to live on. I'm bitter because even if I got lucky and a good position opened up somewhere, we don't make enough between us to afford getting to an interview (unless it is very local). But, that's just FINANCIAL. I'm sure that my bitterness is shared by quite a few people that are now not working or are now under-employed. Likely there are 10's of thousands of people in similar circumstances. Working any job (or multiple jobs) they can get in order to make ends meet. Probably working without benefits and praying upon wakening that it will be a "good day" without accident, injury or medical incident. Like I said, it's financial. Aside from that, I can honestly say that I'm happy. I'm in a great relationship with a wonderful person and whatever life throws at us, we manage. We may struggle with our bills and keep the cars running with coat hangers, duct tape and frequent additions of motor oil, but we are managing. We still have hope that one day things will get better for us financially but until that day comes, we ha...(read more)