In 1983-84, I took the redeye from San Francisco to Boston often enough to remember it was United flight 66 aboard a Lockheed L-1011. There’s a related story about AIDS politics from one of those business trips, that I may tell another time.
After landing at Logan, if it was a workday I’d take the MBTA to the office, briefcase and carry-on bag in hand, to write up my site report and fill out my expense report. If it was okay with my boss, I’d leave early and take the T home to my $600/month studio apartment with a stove that didn’t work, that the landlord never fixed. I relied on a hot plate and a toaster oven.
My monthly income was $1200, or about $3500 today. Enough to live on, but with half of my pay going to rent, it wasn’t enough to save up for a more expensive apartment while owning a car. So when my old car was beyond repair, I didn’t replace it.
In 1984, three years before the events of the Ted story, I came very close to quitting over money. If the senior VP I met with to discuss my dissatisfaction knew I had a job offer in my pocket for a much better salary, I undoubtedly would have been fired on the spot. Fortunately, his boss came through with more money for me, and I stayed. Good thing too, considering this was the guy who offered me the other job.
The point in telling about my own situation is to say that after the boss who started the group quit, and I took it over, I was very sympathetic to the concerns and complaints of the team members. My former boss had set the precedent, that if someone had a late landing at Logan, they didn’t have to show their face at the office right at 9 the next morning.
So did I extend Ted more slack than I would have anyone else? I was going to say no, but in hindsight nobody else put me in the same spot that Ted did. Then came the day when he was a no-show. No phone call, no message, and no Ted.