Page 190 - harryDEC12_clean.iba

SECTION 2
THE ACID TEST
+++++++
On my third working day John turns his desk chair to myself, sips his coffee and lit himself a cigarette (it was the time when cigarettes were still being smoked in offices, and John was a heavy smoker), and he says to me:
„Well, I think its time to put your AIU contract on the Market.“
He places before me the „placement slip“. This so called slip was of blue-green colours and on it was printed the essential contents of the Re-insurance contract on a seemingly endlessly long folded cardboard. On the last three pages there was on the cardboard only a double vertical line on the right hand side, and above the gap there was printed....%. There, John explains to me, the insurers will enter our percentage participation in the risk, with a stamp and signature, in various colours - he hopes.
(Many slips were actually quite aesthetic to look at, because of our beautiful colours and composition: pieces for an exhibition.) John has prepared everything and I have not to raise a finger.
„Take a look to see if everything is okay.“
I cast an eye over every detail but, but after having got bogged down in the clauses and the abbreviations and references, I decide to allow myself to be guided by my basic trust in John’s experience. What could I as a novice want to change? - I ask myself.
„I’ve made an appointment with Brian Weydell of the Orion Insurance Company for 11 o’clock.“
„Why not Lloyd’s ?“
I ask.
„Lloyd’s isn‘t exactly friendly to AIU. It’s a sort of rivalry. We’ll take Stewart Helman in the second position if Brian is ready to lead the slip.“
Okay, I think - John will know this better.
"And one more thing. If you don’t know an insurer personally start off with just ‚good morning, sir‘. That’s the ritual. He will then with great probability call you ‚sir‘ too and decide whether he likes you.“
+++++++++++++++
189