Tuesday, October 18, 2016

NIGHT SHIFT



 
When I was nineteen I became a state-licensed (as opposed to unlicensed) California security officer. It was in complete contrast to my artistic nature, but in my youth I enjoyed delving into unusual adventures. Besides, the work usually entailed the late-night shift, which coincided with my notoriously nocturnal persona.

My very first security job was a stint at Hughes Aircraft in Irvine (Costa Mesa, actually), where I was armed (though not particularly dangerous). It was an easy job because I didn't have to make any patrols or rounds. My most perilous duties included operating one of the night switchboards. I remember that a group of women from the front office took photos of me because they thought I was cute. I also received numerous phone calls from a male executive who propositioned me for sex.
I'm not bragging, boys and girls - - I'm just telling it like it is. And I'll politely refrain from revealing what happened.....

Late night security work wasn't all fun and games. I had some unbelievably horrific adventures......like the time I worked at Goodwill Industries and the janitor turned out to be a murderer. He left the body of one of his victims outside my office door! I wrote about this in a previous post:
My Night With a Corpse

I was fearless back then, and often purposefully reckless, but the murder incident admittedly scared the living jeeters out of me.


A few years before the murder incident, I had applied for a late-night security job at Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary on Beach Boulevard. The supervisor liked me, but admitted that he thought I was too young. He preferred someone older and more "mature". 

During the duration of our interview, he finally admitted the truth: all of the previous security guards had quit - because of strange occurrences at the mortuary. It was supposedly haunted. Loud footsteps were reportedly heard in the hallways and apparitions frequently appeared. After careful consideration of the applicants, a fifty-year-old security guard was chosen.

Three days later I was surprised to get a phone call from the mortuary supervisor. He told me that the new security officer abruptly quit, after experiencing a few "difficult" nights. The job was open, if I still wanted it.

"Hell no", I said. "I'm a guard, not a ghost hunter." 

Eventually I did work in another spooky place. It was a company in Brea that manufactured sinks, showers, and bathtubs.  The facility consisted of two large buildings - - the factory and warehouse. The entire place was closed on weekends, and that's when I worked there: twelve-hour shifts, from noon 'till midnight, Saturday and Sunday. I was entirely alone and had to patrol the two buildings every hour  (12 times a day). Patrolling during the daylight hours was bad enough, but after dark it was especially unnerving.

My apprehension increased when I learned (from my supervisor) that there had been a long-ago accident on the upper floor of the warehouse, where a worker was crushed to death. It was rumored that his ghost lingered there, and his screams could be heard.


That upper floor was extremely creepy - gloomy, dank, and filled with lots of weird noises. Creaks, groans, and muffled human-like gurgles echoed through the cavernous walls. I always dreaded going up there and hurried as quickly as possible. I never did see a ghost, but the noises were strange.

One night I discovered a drunken derelict hiding on the first floor of the factory building. I feigned toughness and managed to scare him out of the building.
Unlike Hughes Aircraft, I was completely unarmed on this job and only had a flashlight. And it was before the era of cell phones. 

My work as a security officer was only a small part of my many youthful adventures, but I could write a book about the experiences. 


Cabinet of Curious Treasures 

22 comments:

  1. egad! nope, you wouldn't catch ME doing those jobs!

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    1. I'll admit it - - I must have been crazy to do those jobs. I'm not nearly as adventurous (or brave) as I used to be.

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  2. Jon
    Hope things are well with you.
    Sounds like you've had some interesting jobs, I never did anything like that security stuff, though my stint as an ER Doc at Doctor's Hospital in San Diego just after being back from VN might apply, but that was somewhat before your experiences. Had a few interesting things happen at night in Danang and Chu Lai, but that was expected at night.
    Watching the snow come down on a October evening here.

    Mike

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    1. As an ER DOC I have no doubt that you have lots of interesting tales to tell.

      Snow in October?? Wow! It's been unseasonably warm here in the wilds of Tennessee. It was 86 degrees yesterday.....but it won't last...

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  3. This is more delicious than an episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone!
    Westminster Memorial sounds decidedly creepy. I'm so glad you took a pass ..... but I'd love to learn more!

    My dad went to work every day at 3PM as an armed Security guard for the (then) Atomic Energy Commission. There were a couple incidents sure, but nothing 'unexplained.' Maybe the UN-dead fear radiation poisoning? LOL.

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    1. In retrospect I was probably more foolhardy than courageous - - I certainly wouldn't want to do that kind of work nowadays.

      Radiation poisoning should have yielded lots of ghosts....

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  4. You always have interesting stories to tell.

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    1. I'm surprised at the amount of stories I have. The more I think, the more I remember - - and I often astonish myself!

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  5. Your accounts of things found on your night rounds are indeed strange --you've had some unnerving jobs! The only two ghost sightings I've had were not frightening, mainly because I didn't know they were ghosts until later --the first, years later; second, hours later. Both induced a sort of pleasant surprise in me.

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    1. I'm definitely a believer, Geo. and I'd be interested in hearing more about your ghostly encounters.

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  6. You would have made a good ghost guard.

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    1. Guarding ghosts would be a lot easier than guarding people...

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  7. I was the only person on the fire department allowed to carry a gun beside the Chief. Not due to ghosts, but my ex-husband. On duty, and off duty, police were always pulling my car over JUST to make sure I WAS carrying -as they wanted me to. Ghosts don't exist. But like a dog walking into a veterinarians office, they can detect the lingering atmosphere of fear and prior horrors. I do believe that as humans, we can still detect some lingering after-effects in the atmosphere. Jesus...I sure didn't want to ever reveal THAT belief. See what you've done!?

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    1. I'm glad you had protection against your ex-husband....my Mom sure as hell needed that.
      Animals are extremely sensitive to their environments and can often sense things that we humans can't (like an impending earthquake, etc.)

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  8. Jon,
    As I was reading your blog my thought was "Jon could write a book about this experience and his other experiences." In fact, you could write a Hollywood script about your security guard experience, a murder mystery. I wonder, are there any ghosts out there in your Tennessee mountains? Who knows what happened in the past there.
    Ron

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    1. Ron, you beat me to it! My thought exactly.

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    2. I really could write a script about the security guard incident with the murderer. It still scares me when I think of it - - especially since the guy he murdered was named John and supposedly looked exactly like me!

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  9. Interesting, creepy jobs!! I can see why you would remember them now with Halloween around the corner--LOL! ;)

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    1. Being a security officer on the late-night shift was like having Halloween every night!

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  10. Tell us some more stories......bet you have some " interesting" ones to share

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    1. I promise I'll have more stories before Halloween.

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  11. Gee, maybe you should have taken that job in the mortuary. You probably could have named your price, and just think of how many more stories you'd have to tell!

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