August 6, 1952
It was a sizzling Saturday morning. I stood out of the American Airlines city ticket office near Penn Station with a big, welcoming smile on my face. It’s my first day selling flights.
A short man wearing a button-down shirt walked up to me. He’s a 5'4 blond, blue eyed portly man. He gestured his hand toward me for a handshake, then said in an enthusiastic tone, “Hi Jim!”
My smile turned somber and serious. A glare possessed my face. My fist clinched. I thought, “I want to smash your face into the ground and knock that stupid smile off your face, you little gremlin.” Rage filled me.
And where did this feeling come from?
Six months ago, I visited my girlfriend at her house. As I waited in her living room, I saw this same gremlin sneak away from her bedroom, apparently trying to avoid detection. I caught him on the way out and politely introduced myself to him. Had to make an awkward conversation with this man.
He told me he was going to a show later tonight with his girlfriend. Yet he just made whoopee with my woman. Deplorable and disgusting!
Later, my girlfriend told me about this affair and we broke up, so this gremlin played a role in the death of my relationship with the dame I loved. He did me wrong. Like how gremlin sabotaged planes, he sabotaged my relationship.
So, what did I do when he raised his hand toward me for a handshake?
I shook grasped his hand and said, " Hi Max, good to see you again," with a fake smile.
He replied, " Likewise," but then he said, " I don't know if the corporate office told you but I'm your supervisor."
This man sabotaged my relationship and now has a say on whether I get paid. I’m at the mercy of this…this…this…gremlin who caused me emotional pain and has no honor. What I do to deserve this?
As we worked together in the sizzling New York heat, he ordered me around. "Pick this up…Clean this up…Talk to more customers." I just did whatever he told me to do, and thought “How could my first day get any worse?”
Suddenly, as I spoke to a family of 4, a 6’ 4, loud, hairy man with the physique of an ogre interrupted me yelled from behind the group, "If you want flights at a fair price that are available all day, go to United down the street. American flights are bad." This man was working for one of the competitors and was trying to steal my business. No way was I going to let that happen.
I said to the family, “Ignore him. He is an ignorant idiot. If you take their flight, you will crash into the ground." The mother laughed at the ogre and the father bought the flights from me. I sold 4 flights and got a $30 commission, so I made money.
The ogre walked up to me, stood two inches from my face and started yelling at my face, “You swiped my business. Fuck you, you bitch …” I replied, “Screw you.”
He looked down at me with ferocious eyes with his cocked forward in a fight position. I thought to myself, “So, this is how it ends.” He raised his arm as if to punch me, and what did Max, the gremlin, my boss and my enemy, do in this situation?
He stepped in right between us. The gremlin and ogre stared at each other face to face. What is this guy doing? Why is he putting his neck out for this? Does he think he can beat this guy up?
He points to a nearby telephone booth and tells the ogre, “If you touch me or Jim, I’m gonna call the police.” The ogre backs down and walks away. Max saved me from a beating and he didn’t tell the corporate office about what I did, which he was supposed to do. In addition to saving me from a beating, he saved me from being fired.
From that day on, me and him worked well together selling tickets and eventually became friends. In fact, he would always put in a good word for me at the corporate office when he had the chance. After I left that job, he became a professional reference when I applied to future jobs. In fact, his reference helped me land the job I have today as a reporter at The Washington Post.