Romacians

Romac is a community. Every morning I wake up at 4 a.m. like every other person I work with at Romac. I stumble into some pants and shoes, shrug on a coat, grab my lunch and run out the door where I am greeted by the brisk morning air on the way to my car. Once at work I head to the lunchroom and down some breakfast and a very essential cup of coffee (I’m a true Washingtonian) as I try and come to my senses.

At Romac we make ductile iron castings. We do the whole bit, we make molds, melt the iron, pour the metal into the molds, and clean up the castings to make them appealing to our customers. This work environment is harsh and the labor is hard, but we manage because we all work as a team. Most people probably wouldn’t think of it as the best kind of job and they might even look down on Romacians because their jobs are menial and they get off work looking like coal miners. But we don’t care what others think; we work hard and earn an honest living.
We are a community; we aren’t one of those places where you go to work, get your job done and go home. People actually hang around and talk to each other and are interested in each other’s lives, even going to the extent of inviting coworkers into their homes. I haven’t seen this kind of work environment anywhere else, nor have I heard of anything else like it. It’s like a second family; we have inside jokes, pranks, encouraging words, and lots of laughter.

The hardest part about fitting in at Romac is finding you place on the social political ladder. Quite a few people have worked there for a number of years and are not too willing to listen to the input from a newbie; it takes a while to earn their respect and trust. Another issue is the male-dominated atmosphere. Many of the guys are gentlemen, but some just don’t care and will swear and share their digestive noises and crude jokes having no qualms about manners. It’s difficult to earn their respect especially when you are a woman and your job is to tell them what to do.

I started out humbly at Romac, I was just the janitor. I was no threat to anyone’s status or reputation. It was during this time that I established good friendships with my fellow coworkers and a reputation for being honest and kind. This proved very valuable later on.

After I had been working at Romac for two years I was hired on in the Quality Assurance department where I got to check everyone’s work and make sure they were following our process. They didn’t take to it very well at first, but over time they warmed up to the idea. It took a good year before they respected my opinion and experience enough to listen to me without the mediation of their department supervisors. It has been hard at times, but I love the people at Romac; they are so down to earth and friendly you just have to love em’.