FRIDAY MOVIES
Dressed in my young lawyer’s uniform (black pinstripe suit, overly starched white shirt, regimental striped tie and overly shiny wingtips), I rolled my Black Crown Vic out the front door and walked out. jumped.
In full Jagger bluster, I walked in and checked into the landline counter at the Westchester County, NY airport. My client’s expert witness was traveling to a pre-trial meeting in one of his business jets. It was something important, and I felt it.
“I’m here to pick up a passenger on the plane with tail number N3*33,” I said. The receptionist abruptly told me to “sign the logbook”. When I asked why he said “because all limo drivers have to sign the logbook”.
Limo driver? I told him that I was not a limo driver. “Well, who are you? ” He asked.
Excellent question. Who was I then? Remembering an Italian proverb (“Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back to the same square”), I took him down 10 notches and told him that “I’m just the guy in charge of leading a guy at a Dating.” In response, he asked “would you mind singing the book anyway?”
No problem. Under “Driver” I signed my name and under “Livery Company” I signed the name of the law firm where I worked at the time. I am certain that since its creation in 1935, this law firm had never been confused with a limousine company. But it was that day.
He then asked me to taxi on the tarmac and a ramp agent would show me where to park my car to wait for the plane to arrive. I asked him why, and he said “because we park all the limos on the tarmac”. Naturally.
If you want to win at chess, you protect the king. The pawn is the least expensive piece. But when the game is over, you know what’s going on.
Humility is an excellent currency in which to trade. That day in New York, I momentarily forgot that simple mantra.
I quickly regrouped, parked on the tarmac and then proudly drove the guy who arrived by private plane to the meeting. A limousine driver from a law firm. Lesson learned.
Carl Ficks helps busy professionals and their teams get back in shape to reduce stress and increase productivity. He practiced law in New Britain for many years and is a proud member of the Generale Ameglio Society. He’s run and cycled thousands of miles and competed in dozens of races, so when you’re ready to get back in the game, email him at [email protected].
