Page 67 - Gary's Book - Final Copy 7.9.2017_Active

It seemed that all flights at that time were uncertain; there could be mechanical
difficulties, weather disruptions, employee issues, communication technicalities –
all kinds of problems. We could not depend on leaving or arriving when we were
scheduled. My worst flight nightmare was when I was returning from Tokyo late

one night. The Asians are typically either teetotalers or heavy drinkers and nothing
in between. I was sitting in an aisle seat, my favorite, in a row of three seats. A
Japanese man that was sitting in the middle seat next to me seemed very drunk
when he sat down; still he ordered a brandy. After about an hour, he decided to go
to the restroom. When attempting to get up, he found it very difficult. It took
several tries, but he did get into a standing position. He grabbed the top of the seat
in front of him and tried to stabilize himself. As he wobbled back and forth and

began to dry heave, he puked (literally) on the guy in the seat in front of him, who
was as bald as a bowling ball. It hit his head like a rock and splashed everywhere,
including on my pants leg. Then, deciding not to go to the restroom, he sat back
down and, thankfully, went to sleep. The stewardess (that’s what we called them
back then) had to restrain the other guy from punching him out. When I got home,

Sue asked, “What happened to you?” I told her the story of the vomit down the
side of my pants leg; she said, “Take ‘em off, NOW!”

I really learned how to negotiate because of the high tolerance of the Asians to wait
it out. They are the best and have long-term patience, which Americans will never
acquire; we are too short-term oriented. The Asians could have a ten-year plan for
their business and its goals and profits, but they do not have a short-term plan for

making it happen. You could never be an executive in an American company with
their thought processes. We can’t function that way. Our shareholders would never
allow it.

I always carried three American passports; the U.S. government allows a
maximum of four. The passport agents in one country may not like it that you had
been recently in a particular country; therefore, depending on what country I was

in, I chose to use a passport that didn’t show that stamp. This was to avoid any
special attention when arriving late at night in South Korea, Taiwan (Formosa),
China, Hong Kong or Thailand. Another travel quirk, was with international gun
laws. If I were going hunting in India, my guns had to be checked at the airport
because they were not allowed on the island of Hong Kong. Only the law enforcers
could have firearms. But they could have all the knives, meat cleavers and swords

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