Humans of Cleveland
Photos courtesy of Peri McIntosh
I've never actually gone to get my car fixed, I've always left that for my dad to handle. It's just not something I have the knowledge for, and in fact I find anything dealing with cars to be quite intimidating. That being said, I've never stepped foot in an auto repair shop.
Upon entering Superior Transmission this weekend, the last thing I expected was the glowing joy and friendliness exuding from Bobbie Campbell as she greeted us from behind the desk.
Campbell, one of the owners of Superior Transmission, has lived in Cleveland since 1985.
'What is your favorite part of work?'
'Meeting all the people.'
'Can you tell me about some of the interesting people you've met?'
'There was this one lady. She was a little lady. An elderly lady. More elderly than me. And she lived on her own. She had nobody to help her do anything. And she drove an old truck. And she was having problems with her transmission. She came in and we helped her and we gave her a price break. We didn't charge her much at all. And then she would come back, [stopping] by just to say hello or [coming] if she had any problem with her transmission and we would take care of it. We wouldn't charge her anything. She was just a real sweet deserving lady.
I've made some good friends, just by working here, with people who would come in. I worked at a bank for years and that was my favorite part of banking, just the customer interaction.'
'What are you most proud of?'
'My children. We have six children. Six. I was going to say they're all married but they're not all married. We've got a son that is not married. And we raised my great niece'she's one of eight children. She's 22 and she still lives at home. And she works in Chattanooga. I hope she'll get married soon ... just kidding! But I'm proud of my children. They're all good people.'
'Do you have any advice for college students?'
'I tell my granddaughter, [who] got a full scholarship at Tennessee Wesleyan, to make the most of this opportunity. This doesn't come around in life that often. So just make the most of it. And I'm sure she will. I've just always told my kids, 'Always do what's right, tell the truth.' I said, 'Don't lie to me, don't steal from me, and hey, we'll be okay.'"
And my pet peeve! People leaving carts in the parking lot at Walmart. If they're too lazy to put their cart back, they're too lazy to be out shopping.'