In 1984, I was starting my professional career in the computer industry. I was working for my first employer, Logical Design Corporation, in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. They wanted to send me to a class in Atlanta, Georgia where I would learn how to repair IBM desktop computers. This would be my first official business trip!
I got on a plane at the Detroit airport and flew to Atlanta. When it came to renting a car, I ran into a problem. At this point in my life, I did not own a credit card, which is required to rent a car. I assumed my employer had taken care of that detail when they booked my flight. I call my boss, who talked to the lady at the counter and somehow convinced her to use his credit card to cover the car rental. Tragedy averted!
As I got dressed the morning of the first day of class, I realized I had forgotten to pack a tie. I felt really silly at the time, but in the end, it really didn’t matter. No one judged me on my oversight. (See class photo, below).
This was a two-day class where we sat in a training room in front of computers. After a lecture, our hands-on tasks began. After we left the room, the instructors unplugged something or change a configuration on each PC. We came back in and started troubleshooting. It was rather fun and I did OK.
After the second day of class was over, we went outside to take a group photo. (see below). Just after this photo was taken, a guy who was attending who was also from the Detroit area, asked me if he could borrow $5. (See Tim Shear, the guy under the yellow arrow). Apparently he was out of cash and needed it for something. Even though I really did not know the guy, I saw no reason not to lend it to him. It was only $5!
Turn the clock forward to January, 1987. I was looking for another job. I interviewed with a company called Parameter Driven Software. It just so happened that the guy I lent the $5 to worked there and he told the hiring manager since I was willing to loan a stranger some money, I must be an honest and trustworthy man.
I got the job. A few weeks later the guy stopped by my office at PDS and handed me a five dollar bill!
