MICHAEL J. LACIVITA Losing a job can be learning experience

Life is full of hard knocks, and our Valley has seen a number of them, especially the loss of our steel industry. Today the U.S. automobile industry is taking a layoff beating.
I can empathize with the person who has lost his or her job. It can be a traumatic, but also learning experience. I was in the same boat 35 years ago and survived. You suddenly go from something to nothing. We have to expect the unexpected.
The old adage still remains true, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." After 20 years' service with Republic Rubber Division, the decision was made in 1971 to cut the operation in half. We went from a total employment of about 1,100 to 550.
At the time I was the production superintendent in the molded hose division. The reduction in force meant eliminating my position. I was offered a general foreman's position in another department, but declined. I told them I was leaving the company as a production superintendent and would guide my own destiny.
Humbling experience
At 47 years of age I was one of the oldest persons to leave a management position voluntarily. My pride got in the way, since it was much more difficult to find an equal or better job, when a resume shows "no job." I was out of work for two months, and it was a truly humbling experience.
An employment counselor gave me some good advice when she said "You must be mobile" and "you own the home, don't let this home own you." My family and I didn't want to leave good old Youngstown, Ohio, since we had recently moved into our new home.
The day I left Republic Rubber Division, I met with my general manager, Lloyd Preston, who conducted an exit interview. He paid me my greatest compliment in my world of work. He said, "Mike, anyone that works as hard as you, should be in your own business."
I didn't go into my own business, but I can thank him for recommending me to the top management of Commercial Shearing, Inc., a great company from which I retired in 1986.
X Michael J. Lacivita, a Youngstown retiree, is an inductee in the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.