Head Up, Chest Out...Paul's Story
Task 8, February 21 to February 28
Paul C. is a very old friend (we met at KABC in 1984), and he is part of the OLD PEOPLE THIS WEEK podcast. He related this story to me some time ago. It is a truly remarkable tale of hope, despair, perseverance and triumph.
It was a little over ten years ago, while living in Los Angeles, that I found myself at a low point in what had been a long, lucrative and engaging career in television production. Simply put: I couldn’t find work, and that simple but devastating revelation stunned me to my core–I couldn’t quite comprehend that after 35+ years the day had come that I was not employable.
It felt like I had been playing a perverse game of musical chairs. When I was 20 years old there were 45 chairs, but I found that when I turned 55 there were only 10 chairs remaining, and when the music stopped I was out of the game.
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My earnings in 2015 dipped to an all time low not seen since I was 13 years old in 1973. And how would I fill the hours that I had previously spent plying my trade? I filled some of the time by walking the dogs for hours around Studio City until my partner Louise told me to stop–I was exhausting them. So I would sit on the back patio talking to our huskies, Hope and Abbey, until they started talking back to me…
It was at this point I knew I needed to do something, but what?
A year into this involuntary retirement I had a thought: "What would I have done at age 20?" The answer came to me quickly. I got in my car, drove to LAX, and applied at Southwest Airlines to become a Customer Service Agent. And guess what. They hired me. Later I was promoted to Supervisor, then Flight Attendant, and later I moved for work to Charleston, SC., where I now reside.
Now to be perfectly honest, my transition from Hollywood sound stage to a Southwest Check-In gate was physically smooth, but psychically rough–there was a part of me that worried how my show business friends/peers would feel about it…so I kept my transition on the down-low; I went so far as to delete my "Hollywood" Facebook and launched my second career Facebook. I thought never the two shall meet.
But of course, “the best laid plans…”, one day in Term 1 at LAX I was spotted by my former William Morris Agent. What do you do? What do you say? I determined that the best course of action was to grin and bear it, but at some level I was still ashamed. A few years later I was Inflight boarding on a flight to LAX and a very good acquaintance saw me performing the mid-cabin safety instructions, wearing life vest and all, and he took a video of me, which appalled me.
I was beyond emotional, and broke down at 40,000 feet. Fortunately for me, one of my fellow attendants on the flight, a former teacher, sat with me and gave me a great piece of advice: face your reality, don’t run from it.
Ever since that day, I have owned up to who I am, with no regrets for my life lived. I have met great friends along the way, and experienced many opportunities that most never get a chance to live. While not making the money I once did in Hollywood, I am richer for my opportunities with Southwest Airlines. I have to thank the man who originally hired me. Within the first 2 minutes of my interview I mentioned that I once watched the tv series "Airline". He looked me in the eyes and said "if you saw that and still want to work here, then fingerprinting and badging are right over there."
Everyday, inside, I laugh my ass off. I have the best memories, my health, and the love and faith of LVP and those of you I call friends.
If there is a task at all it is to own your life.