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Ernest Rodriguez' "Impressions," 1960s-1980s

""The Year 1970"" by Ernest Rodriguez Page 2

learned by then than he could be staring straight at me but his thoughts would be wrestling with one of his many other involvements related to his phone conversation he was in the middle of. 
I remember how I never did care much for Alan when he was Chief Steward because he seemed like a Jim Dandy trying too hard to please everyone and not being able to please anyone. He had rose fast in the rank of union leadership. He was now a business agent and has been elected President of the Quad-City Federation of Labor and the year before he had served as Chairman of the Scott County Democratic Central Committee. I had got to know him better and had plyed in artful joking about even routine matters, which put you at ease in his presence. He was usually on the phone whenever I would report to him about the progress I was making in organizing the people at the Lois Rich Plant. This always made me impatient and weary because between one phone call after another it was hard for me to remember where I left off and I always thought to myself what a waste of time it was to sit there for a half hour and being interrupted continuously by those phone calls. One day I called him up to see if he was in the office because I had some written reports tomake and didn’t want to leave them undone to report to the office. Later I told him jokingly I had come to the conclusions that his was the best way to bring to his attention matters that were of my concern. Frowning he sad in a genuine serious mien “I’m gonna have to remember that. You really think so, huh?” I suppose you’re right,” this observation needed to be carefully filed into to some special drawer of his overworked mine.

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learned by then than he could be staring straight at me but his thoughts would be wrestling with one of his many other involvements related to his phone conversation he was in the middle of. I remember how I never did care much for Alan when he was Chief Steward because he seemed like a Jim Dandy trying too hard to please everyone and not being able to please anyone. He had rose fast in the rank of union leadership. He was now a business agent and has been elected President of the Quad-City Federation of Labor and the year before he had served as Chairman of the Scott County Democratic Central Committee. I had got to know him better and had plyed in artful joking about even routine matters, which put you at ease in his presence. He was usually on the phone whenever I would report to him about the progress I was making in organizing the people at the Lois Rich Plant. This always made me impatient and weary because between one phone call after another it was hard for me to remember where I left off and I always thought to myself what a waste of time it was to sit there for a half hour and being interrupted continuously by those phone calls. One day I called him up to see if he was in the office because I had some written reports tomake and didn’t want to leave them undone to report to the office. Later I told him jokingly I had come to the conclusions that his was the best way to bring to his attention matters that were of my concern. Frowning he sad in a genuine serious mien “I’m gonna have to remember that. You really think so, huh?” I suppose you’re right,” this observation needed to be carefully filed into to some special drawer of his overworked mine.