Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-24
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T THOUGHT somebody was fooling me
l. this morning when the telephone bell
rang and Able told me that a Mr.. Ben
ton wanted TO speak to me. I never
thought of connecting it with the SUI
perintendent of Marsh & FELTON,, of Bos-
ton, the department store for whom !
worked. and when he said who he was
l could hardly believe it.
It seems that he had been to Atlantic
City to attend a convention of depart
ment store superintendent. Dad had
written to him that I was in the real
estate business, so he decided to stop
off and say "How-do' to me.
You bet it didn't take me long to
beat it to the Knickerbocker, where he
was staying.
Isn't it funny how people change?
When I worked for him I felt that he
was about a thousand miles away. ]
hardly realized that he was a human
being. When I went up to his room |
felt the old feeling of awe for a minute
or two, but he was so decent that 1t
wasn't long before l was talking to him
just like an old friend.
"Sit down over there, Peter, and have
a cigar"
| lit my cigar while he looked at me
through narrowed lids.
"You have changed a lot since you
worked for US, Peter Flint"
II guess I never did work for YOU
I said with a half laugh and felt a
bit of a fool.
IT will be truthful and agree with
YOU. but | think you a a different
view of business from what you had
then"
You just bet your sweet life have
I said alphabetically.
When think OF the darn fool
things ! did ~thenT-well, I n tina
] was allowed to live, that's all
He smiled and said And an Inter
esting fact that you will find in youi
business life, Peter Flint, Is that II
another two years time lot Will LOOK
back OH your present life and make JUS
the same comment
"Oh. | don't KNOW L eHPosNuiottu
81 don't think l am doing such fooiisf
things now as ! did then
"Of course, you aren't, but, II yot
are going to progress at all, you vii
always be able to look back and Sc,
rows of mistakes you have made. a
mistake Is a danger sign warning vi
that the business ice is thin, and II We
don't heed those mistakes, some brigh'
day we find that we are struggling II
NNF
the chilly waters of failure.
lyon know, / felt real sorry for you
Peter when YOU were working for us
7 did really want 20 help you If / could
hut unfortunately, nobody on God
earth could help you in the frame o
mind you were IN then. You knew /
all, didn't your
u hardly liked the way he was tellinI
me what a darn fool ] used TO be- 81
said: OF course, it's all right, 10
YOU because you're In a big position
You probably never had TO do nue.
struggling like / did. and, naturally, on
doesn't take much stock in advice iron
. some one who hasn't been through TN
mill like he's been through it,
"Of course, you know that your faith
er and / used TO bunk together when W,
were both working for a store in De
troit?"
! thought for a minute, Now tina
you mention II, / remember a sayinI
Ssomething about it, but l had forgotten
all about IT,"
II started working in Detroit at s
a week and at the end of the year
was having Sl2-your dad got tn
same. Your dad mother n fathe
: were living then and they used to SEN
him some extra spending money ever