FRANKIE, WE HARDLY KNEW YOU!

Way back in 1975 I met a man by the name of Frankie. Frankie was a free-lance artist that worked for me in NYC, and one of his passions was a good laugh. Frankie was a rotund fellow about 5’9” either way. Frankie was a good-natured jolly guy, who loved to laugh and play jokes on people. Although he never pulled any tricks on me up until then, he was a good prankster and got most people in the office. After a while Frankie left the company for a full time job.

In 1982 I joined Publishers Clearing House and whom do I see there but Frankie! Frankie had taken a job at the Clearing House and surprised me by hiding behind a cubicle as I went into my interview with my future Boss. After the interview, my new Boss Ralph said he had a surprise for me and led me out to the studio where Frankie jumped out. It was a home coming of sorts and we got caught up on the latest news with each other.

As the years progressed Frankie and I had some fun teasing each other and doing things that only friends would do to each other. One morning I arrived at work and went into my office, and as I unlocked the door I look at my chair and there sits all the supplies for the Photostat room, There was gallons of chemicals, photo paper, etc. that was delivered the day before. I immediately knew who did this and planned my revenge. I must admit it was overkill, but what the hell; it was for Frankie that I did it.

I rolled all the supplies over to his desk, put them all on top of his desk, along with his chair, and garbage can and anything he had hidden under his desk. I retreated back to my office and waited for Frankie to make his appearance. One of the Big Shots comes in, walks by his office and just shakes his head “no”. Frankie arrives and comes straight to my office, stands in the doorway and says “Good morning!” I nod a “Good morning” back and he drifts to his office laughing. All of a sudden there is a huge belly laugh as he discovers my handy work. He wasn’t done laughing yet. I make a sign that reads: “FOR SALE, ONLY A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS, NEED TO SELL QUICKLY, CALL AFTER 11:30 PM” and hung the sign on his new car where it sat the whole day while Frankie worked and hundreds of people went by. Calls he got, even though he finally found the sign after 6:30 PM and removed it! What he didn’t see however was the string of Kotex I put together from the 6 or 8 boxes I stole from the Janitor’s closet. I hung the Kotex string on his grill, and since he approached his car that evening from the rear, he never saw the string, driving all the way home from Port Washington to his home in Kings Park!

Frankie passed away in January of 1992, and there was a large crowd of friends and family, that not only mourned him, but mourned themselves for losing a little bit of their lives too.