Page 34 - MY STORY

a short wall around his desk with enough room to place a

chair for a one-on-one meeting.
Almost every desk held a noisy mechanical Marchant
calculator. Our telephones were connected to the outside

world through a central switchboard located at the room
front, occupied by a full-time operator. Secretaries with
manual typewriters were busy (and noisily) typing reports.

Engineers were busy writing, talking to desk mates, or
sometimes shouting across the room to get someone’s
attention.

These were the days of slide rules and mechanical

calculators that, when coupled with the need to
communicate with desk-mates, made me wonder how
anyone could possibly think or produce constructive work
in all that cacophony.

Within a week all that very loud “white” noise was

somehow pushed back somewhere in the mind recesses
and canceled out – absolutely amazing. During my initial
meeting with the M&P management folk, I was asked

what kind of assignments I’d like to be engaged in. I
replied that my background was mainly in the support of
manufacturing operations, and I felt that would be most

comfortable for me and of most value to Douglas.