Mark's promotion

 Another data center story from a long time ago:

One day one of my fellow operators Mark was informed that he had been promoted to the application group.  This was good news. Our boss said they would need to find his replacement before he could start his new job. The hiring process at this company was extensive. I remember going for 5 interviews with the company and a tough test before being hired.  A month passed.  Mark walked into the data center at 3 am on Sunday morning. The operator that was working asked him what he was doing there  It was not shift change time and he was not scheduled to be there. Mark did not respond. He walked over to a rack of tape cartridges and pulled two cases of 3480 cartridges. Each case contained 20 mainframe tapes. Then he walked toward the back of the data center. The Operator continued to try and talk with him. Still no response. Mark took the first tape from the case and threw it at the big wooden doors at the back of the data center. The tape cracked open and magnetic tape and plastic pieces went everywhere. Each cartridge holds a lot of tape. Since the operator was unsure of what was going to happen next he moved away toward the other exit door. Another operator left to call the police.  The operator watched as Mark threw all 40 tapes at the doors. 

   When I showed up for work at 6am and there were 3 police cars out front and my boss's car, my boss's boss's car and my boss's boss's boss's car.  This couldn't be good. I didn't see any people as I walked toward the back entrance of the data center. I opened the door.  There was a mound of magnetic tape and plastic fragments everywhere. The police officers told me to come around and use the main entrance to the data center.  

   As it turned out, Mark was apparently drunk and frustrated that he had not moved to the application group fast enough. He was fired. I never saw him again. 

  Fortunately, the tapes did not have data on them. Of course, I got to clean up the mess. 


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