Local retired woman has no plans to quit the job she loves

By Michael Gibbs
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Five days a week, Mae Wood sleeps until 9:30 in the morning.

Mae needs the rest, because within about an hour after waking up she will be working inside the cafeteria at Baxter Healthcare Corp.’s headquarters about 20 minutes away in Deerfield.

“I love it,” Mae says of the job she has worked for 11 years. “I walk 2 to 4 miles a day. It is healthy. It keeps me alive. I plan to work at Baxter for the rest of my life.

“I love my bosses and the hundreds of people who eat inside the cafeteria each day. I love interacting with people. Many employees eat in the cafeteria on a daily basis. I know them. I know their families. They are my friends.”

Jack of all Trades
Mae worked for 26 years inside the faculty cafeteria at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook.

She applied for a job at Baxter because it was closer to the home in Northbrook she shared at the time with her husband, John. Mae and John moved to Sedgebrook in July.

“They interviewed her and then hired her on the spot,” John says.

Mae arrives at Baxter’s cafeteria a little before it opens at 11 a.m., and stays for more than an hour after it closes at 1:30 p.m., helping with cleanup.

“I make sure everybody is happy,” Mae says. “If they have a complaint, or request something, I try to take care of it.”

Job offers independence, spending money
Mae is paid $8.75 an hour, and also eats lunch for free at Baxter’s cafeteria.

“It gives her independence,” John says. “She has her own bank account. She buys things and does not even tell me.”

“I just wrote a check for some earrings I saw in a catalog,” Mae says. “I used my own money to buy them.”