THE “OLD MAN”

As I was saying yesterday on my last post, I worked for a Company, where Dad was the retail foreman. The owner of the company was a very wealthy old geezer, but with a generous heart. The Old Man had a temper and usually exploded every half hour on the button. My working there in his sanctuary of money didn’t help his blood pressure. He wore very fancy and expensive alligator shoes, a gold and diamond studded ring, usually very fancy expensive cashmere sweaters and silk shirts. He wore glasses that would allow his eyes to pierce through his lenses and always had his hands in his pockets, except for once. (See below)

The Old Man was married and had three sons that worked for him. Being how he was used to having his way all the time, he had a secret crush on a certain young married woman who designed children’s clothing and worked for him. I’ll call her Chesty McGuire. Chesty had a certain gait, and a sweet disposition, and although she was older than me by a good number of years, I WAS looking for a tutor for some social issues I had, and often thought about “Hiring” her for the job. Chesty had her studio right smack in the middle of the shipping department for some reason that I could never figure out. Then one day by accident I discovered why. It seems the Old Man and his sons all stayed in the front in their air-conditioned offices, rarely venturing out to the shipping department where I lurked (often on hot days in a bin resting a few dozen feet up) near a giant fan. Dad called me over and told me too bring this carton to Chesty in her office. I took the carton over to her office and noticed her office lights were out, so I just opened the door. Well! To my great chagrin and surprise there was Chesty on her cutting table with the Old Man’s hand in a very interesting position on her anatomy. Needless to say, we all were surprised, and jumped in different directions. It was Oscar day! Yes, we all earned an Oscar for pretending nothing was happening and nothing was seen of my particular interest. I just asked where she wanted the carton (I really wanted to ask if she needed another hand) and acted as if nothing happened, like I missed it completely. The Old Man was the best actor of us all, recovering rather nicely as he wandered away with his hand back in his pocket.

From that day on, I had shortened hours, a slight pay raise and given an opportunity to design for his clothing store, doing murals and signs that kept me busy, while he kept Chesty McGuire busy.