Page 32 - MY STORY

lobby watching the big clock on the wall click down to –

and then past – my appointment time.
Panic does not adequately describe the feelings transiting
my body at that moment. I knew I had blown it and –

would never meet the Douglas senior executive for my
job interview.

At 10 minutes after the scheduled appointment, while I
was standing motionless, sweating, in the Palmer House
lobby, a hand grabbed my shoulder from behind, and a

very loud and gruff voice said, “ARE YOU
WHITESON?!!!”

I turned and faced the epitome of what a senior executive
is supposed to look like. A man with a full shock of white
hair, compact stature, smoking a large, very black, cigar –

who did not seem the least bit pleased to see me. I’m not
sure which emotion peaked! The joy of being found, or

the dejection that arrives when you know that you’ve
screwed up mightily.

Dr. Leo S, Chief Metallurgist of Douglas Aircraft, held
the job interview in his hotel room. Instead of asking me
a lot of technical questions his main focus seemed to

home in on why I would leave a perfectly good job at