Dori Allington: Working 4 a.m. till noon

On the road really early, a sleepy driver dashes into Fastrac in Ithaca. Plenty of choices for a fast snack, sandwich, fruit, coffee, restrooms, gas.

No matter how dark the sky is, even at 4 A.M. Dori Allington says something uplifting with her big smile to the person checking out. When the customer remarks, “You just love people.”  The customer next in line adds, “And it shows.” Everyone feels a little more able to face the coming day as they wave goodbye to Dori and head off.

Growing up a native of Tompkins County, Dori lived in Trumansburg as a child, with her mother and her sister, a year older than her. At 6, Dori and her family moved to Dryden, after her mother’s remarriage to Ken, a well-known Greyhound Bus driver, after he retired from the Marines.

When Dori started Dryden Elementary School, her mother worked as a secretary at the school, and her schedule fit with her children’s. Later, as a 3^rd grader, Dori tagged along with her mother when she distributed Leggs lingerie throughout the region. Dori had fine role models for working hard while parenting.

During high school Dori loved the childcare program at BOCES. She always keeps a special watchful eye on kids’ well-being. Anyone’s kids. Dori’s family and co-workers say Dori is a natural born caretaker for any living creature in need of protection, care, or support who crosses her path.

Just before Dori’s high school graduation the director of the New York Dairy Herd Association offered Dori a position in this Association. And Dori threw herself into her new job and savored her new adult life as a worker.

At 21, Dori combined parenting with working full-time, over the years raising Joey, Vanessa, and Daniel.

Even while working at the NY Dairy Herd, and then for 13 years at Sam’s Club, Dori always made the trek with kids in tow to South Carolina to visit her mother, and then to the Watertown area for her father’s annual fishing trip. Those were long drives for a working parent with short vacations. But Dori knew family reunions on the waterfront were worth the effort because family matters.

Dori and her kids remain close, and over the years Dori has included Joey, Daniel, and Vanessa, as occasional workers as she has traveled throughout the Upstate New York Fastrac network for the past 12 years. All three grown kids have good jobs now in their chosen careers, and Dori is pleased and proud of them.

Whether working in Ithaca, Horseheads, Corning, Auburn, Ft. Crane, or Geneva Fastrac, Dori’s District Manager says, “Dori has done it all…Even on her day off she will come in to help out and stay late till backup arrives, if needed. After 12 straight years, Dori has never missed a day of work. Ever.”

Every morning Dori gets up at 2 AM, an hour away from her current Fastrac position. Leaving her home at 3 AM, by 4 AM Dori turns on the lights at Fastrac, punches in, deals with the safe, before she dives into the early tasks: “I make fresh pizza from the dough as soon as I arrive, hot breakfast sandwiches of all sorts, and lunchtime sandwiches to go. By 5 A.M. the roller grill is cranked, assorted sauces are prepared, and customers are coming in the door.”

Dori also oversees the coolers, receiving and stocking orders from various companies throughout her shift. If the credit card receipt paper needs to be replaced, Dori knows the drill.

During the day as pizza by the slice is being replenished, calls start coming in for customized 8 slice pizzas to go. Loaded with toppings of choice. Newspapers are received, and lottery tickets are a favorite for some Fastrac frequent flyers.

Around 10 a.m., Dori takes her first short break.

Dori: “I love people. I am friends with my co-workers, admire my manager, Anoinette, and I enjoy the interactions with our customers all day long…Some people come in tired or blue, worried about something that lies ahead. I try to lift people’s spirits with a friendly greeting and good service. And often it works…When people are not friendly, I don’t let that bother me. I don’t know what they are dealing with. I just remain friendly and wish them well.”

“I also like fast-paced jobs. And at Fastrac there is always something or someone to be attended to, often more than one someone and more than one task at the same time.”

Dori credits her mother for role modeling what it means to do your best day after day at your job. “My mother took me along when she worked. No matter how the customers treated her, she was polite, and spent as much time as necessary to see that their  needs were satisfied…I like to think I am doing, as I saw my mother do. To give your best, no matter what…Because my mother raised me to be kind and respectful of others, I remind myself that we all have hard days, and it helps if we shore each other up when someone is down.”