A Place Called Grinders

It was an intense time for many at DST, as we’d just found out a company named SS&C out of Boston had acquired DST. Shortly after this, our manager, Mark, had informed us that he would be there until the transition was completed, and that he would then no longer be with DST.

A woman named Debra would be our new helpdesk manager and she would be working remotely out of Boston most of the time. However, SS&C would fly Debra out to the DST Kansas City data center for one week each month.

The helpdesk was soon united against the new managerial arrangement. After all, it made no sense to bring in someone from out-of-state who was only going to be working here one week a month. Also, Mark was already familiar with managing the helpdesk, as he’d now run it for more than 15 years. Mark was also universally loved and he’d been doing a great job there.

The helpdesk was in shock. Over the next few weeks, the sadness would turn to anger for many, including my co-worker, Ron. In one transition meeting, Ron lashed out over some of the discussed changes. Ron then sat there is silence for the rest of that meeting, visibly shaken. I’d never seen Ron this frustrated over the year I’d worked with him.

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Mark always put the helpdesk first, no matter how much pressure came from upper management. There were many times we’d received complaints due to their insistence that no one calling in should have to wait more than five minutes on hold. It was an impossible standard, as we had less than 10 people on the helpdesk supporting several thousand employees. Likewise, we were often overwhelmed.

To reduce hold times, DST had implemented an overflow queue to route calls to Tier 3 technicians. It was absurd having a UNIX mainframe technician answering calls about slow Outlook performance. However, similar situations often occurred. The actual solution was to hire more helpdesk technicians. However, I was the only person recently hired and we were still often overwhelmed.

However, Mark always defended us, as he knew how hard every person on that helpdesk worked. There were even two days when I broke 100 calls in eight hours. I was shocked that I’d done it the first time, but then I did it again a couple of weeks later. I was exhausted after both days and I didn’t know how long I could continue at this pace. I then started tracking my call numbers and I soon discovered I was averaging more than 60 calls a day. At times like these, Mark would jokingly tell us, “Type faster!”

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Despite the difficult situation, Mark later invited the entire helpdesk over to his house to enjoy a meal with him and his wife. After we arrived, Mark spent a lot time talking to everybody else about their lives. We asked Mark about his next steps, and although he didn’t know yet what those were, he was taking the situation in-stride.

Ron was there that day. I then told Ron it was bullshit what they did to Mark and that he didn’t deserve that—not that anyone did, although certainly not Mark. Ron agreed, although he was still taking the news particularly hard. However, I think having a formal off-site event helped him.

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A few months before my DST tenure ended, several of the new Boston-based employees visited our Kansas City office. We chatted a bit, and then around noon, the topic of lunch came up.

“So, are there any good places to get some pizza at around here?” One of the guys asked in his Boston accent.

What should have been a short discussion, continued for more than half an hour. There were many places suggested, including Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Dominoes, etc. It was mostly a whose-who of big chains. At some point, someone mentioned Minsky’s, although I then had to restrain myself from yelling in an angry Boston accent.

“So, we’re looking for a good local place to get a pizza. We’re not looking to go to a big chain,” One of the Boston guys added.

I then told them about Grinders. After talking to them about their extensive pizza topping list and the seriousness with which they took their pizza, we were soon making progress. It was then that the guys from Boston informed us that they would be getting pizza for the entire second floor of the data center.

Above: A Grinders Pizza

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We were soon notified that the pizza had arrived, so I then traveled back to the break room. As I entered the break-room, I then saw 10 Large Grinders pizzas on some tables.

On that day, 50+ people converged on that break room to share 10 pizzas.

The pizzas were as different as those employees were. Some were veggie only, some were meat-only, some were a mix of both, and some were cheese-only. However, as those boxes opened, everything felt O.K. again. Each person then piled stacks of Grinder’s pizza high on those white paper plates. I took four slices, although I later came back for a fifth one after the initial swarm had subsided.

As I made my way back to my desk, I then asked Ron how his pizza was. After he finished stuffing a slice into his face, he replied with, “Great” and then he just went right back to the pizza.

I then asked one of the Boston guys what he thought about the pizza. He told me that he was impressed, as was the rest of the Boston team. This was particularly high praise from a group of guys from Boston, as pizza is serious business in Boston. Likewise, I knew that it was a serious moment, and that serious moments always call for serious pizza.

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That day, Grinders made a big impact amid an environment of anxiety, stress, & uncertainty. For one hour, a beautiful wave of happiness swept over that floor, as Kansas Citians and Bostonites came together over ten Grinders pizzas. I now realize that as we ate those slices of pizza, that they weren’t just slices of pizza. That day, each slice represented something bigger, as each slice represented a piece of someone’s life story, and no one can ever take that away.