Millennial Finds Dad's 1981 Work Pass—Jaws Drop as She Realizes What It Is

Newsweek

a day ago

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A woman's touching tribute to her late father—a pioneering early employee at Apple—has gone viral, sparking nostalgia and admiration from Redditors.
Ashley Rogers, 40, who lives in the greater Detroit area and posts on Reddit as u/ApolloBollo, shared a photo of her father Barry Robinson's Apple ID card from 1981 in the subreddit r/mildlyinteresting, where it quickly gained traction, racking up 97,000 upvotes.
Rogers told Newsweek that she was born in 1984, during the time her father worked for Apple. She explained that her parents met in Charlotte, North Carolina, in February 1981—just one month after the ID photo was taken.
"My Momma worked for Apple as an 'area associate'—a receptionist who did it all. My Dad was the first salesman in Florida—the only Florida employee of Apple Computer. He had a lot to do with educational sales—he would visit schools and encourage them to purchase Apple and the corresponding software," she said.
Rogers said she was prompted to share the post after her mother, while cleaning out her wallet, found several old ID cards—including the now-viral Apple badge.
Her parents' love story began with a bold move: while on a business trip to Charlotte, Barry walked up to Rogers' mother's desk, took a sip from her half-coffee, half-hot-chocolate drink, and smiled. "Momma said he was the absolute most handsome man she had ever met," Rogers said.
The office buzzed about "Barry from Florida" all week. "She said he had on a light grey suit and the seams on the sides of his pants overlapped—the girls in the office that day talked about how they hoped the seams hid zippers. Easy access (barf!!)," Rogers quipped. Her mother moved to Boca Raton to be with him in January 1982.
Person thumbs through wallet filled with cards.
Person thumbs through wallet filled with cards.As a child, Rogers misunderstood her dad's job, believing he "sold literal apples" and was also Lionel Richie—thanks to the big hair and mustache resemblance.
Their home always had a computer, starting with the Apple IIe, and she recalls playing the game Deja Vu, though never quite grasping its mystery-laden storyline. A gamepad for children's software was also a favorite for her and her brother.
Barry Robinson worked for Apple until 1989. During that time, he traveled extensively, attending conferences, meeting Steve Jobs in Hawaii and Robin Williams in Cupertino. "When Apple threw parties—they threw parties, man. It was the 80s in south Florida. Let your imagination go wild," Rogers recalled. Celebrating new births with lavish baskets and $1,500 congratulatory checks, Apple's perks back then were legendary. The east coast sales division also took annual cruises to places like San Juan and Martinique.
Barry Robinson's old Apple ID card.
Barry Robinson's old Apple ID card.
Ashley Rogers/Ashley Rogers
After leaving Apple, Robinson continued his trailblazing streak. The family moved to Charlotte, NC, to be closer to Rogers' maternal relatives. He went on to create an early version of DoorDash called "WeShop," delivering groceries to busy families and seniors.
He later partnered with his son and his friends to sell kit skateboard ramps in the early '90s, before returning to sales in the automotive finance sector.
In 2014, Robinson underwent triple bypass surgery in Georgia. He had long suffered from a rheumatic heart, stemming from childhood rheumatic fever. During that hospital stay, Rogers met her future husband, who worked at the same hospital. "He took GREAT pleasure every year reminding us that if it wasn't for good old dad, we never would have met," she said.
That same year, Rogers moved to Michigan—soon followed by her parents and brother. Her brother later married the family's next-door neighbor, another connection she credited to her father's influence..
"He was the absolute funniest person I've ever met and this whole to-do about his goofy Apple ID badge, it would have cracked him up," Rogers said. She added that while the photo has gone viral, no former Apple employees have yet come forward to say they personally knew him.
Robinson passed away on August 24, 2020. He and his wife were just weeks away from celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. "Up to the day my father died—he had his moustache. I never witnessed him without it," Rogers added. "He would push his moustache up sometimes and I would be in hysterics."
Life at Apple in the Early Days
Robinson was among the vanguard who shaped Apple's future in its golden age. According to PCMag, the early 1980s were a defining era for the company, which had launched the Apple II in 1977—one of the first mass-produced personal computers.
By 1981, when Robinson joined, Apple had grown to 2,500 employees and was on the cusp of launching the Lisa and Macintosh, which would revolutionize user interfaces.
Reddit Reacts
The story resonated with thousands of Redditors, many of whom expressed a mix of admiration and regret.
"Did he hold on to his stock? Are you posting this from your private island? Super cool btw," joked one commenter.
"My first proper job was with Apple in the summer of '98... stock was around 30 cents. I bought absolutely none of it and drank every penny," another lamented.
Others empathized: "1998 Apple didn't really look like a sure bet. The iMac had made a splash, but OSX and iPods were still a long way out. I wouldn't have bet on them then," someone noted.
One user recalled how working in a university mail room in 2001 gave them an early glimpse of Amazon's growing footprint. "My laziness cost me a headstart on early retirement," they added.
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