Stuck in an Elevator

After retiring, I was going stir crazy so I responded to an ad for a marketing manager.

The ad said, “Experienced Marketing Manager must have a successful track record establishing new ventures.”  I sent in my resume expecting nothing in return.  No one, it seems is interested in a “retired” person seeking a new opportunity.  I don’t have to work, but I want to work.  You know, keeping my hand in the game.  Retirement is not pretty if you are alone and watching your budget.  So, for the last few months, I’ve been sending out resumes hoping to add some spark to my professional life that might even drip over to my personal life.

To my surprise, about a week later, I receive a cryptic text message inviting me to interview for the Marketing Manager position.  The firm, Premium Supply Company is located in a less than viable neighborhood in the industrial sector of the city.  On the day of the interview, I drive to the address with limited enthusiasm.  The area, as I suspected, is one of those where the battered convenience store has a single gas island and no windows.  The few local residents are moving slowly along the crumbling sidewalk with all their belongings in rusty shopping carts.  Parking is not a problem.  The street is mostly deserted except for a junk car here and there.  I park in front of a circa 1920’s five-story brick building that has an almost invisible painted sign on top that reads Hanley Equipment Manufacturing Company.
  

Near the unimposing entrance, a smaller, new metal sign indicates that the Premier Supply Company is located in Suite 410.   I enter the building expecting a lobby but find a small space.  The lobby has fallen victim to an ugly remodeling job that leaves me facing three closed windowless wooden doors and a small freight elevator.  An attractive young woman in the elevator is closing the wooden gate but stops when she sees me. “Is this the only way to get up to Suite 410?”  She surveys me matter-of-factly and says, “Well if you were younger, I’d suggest the stairs, but yes, get on.”  As she closes the gate, I look her over quickly.  Her body language and demeanor shout ivy-league MBA.  She’s wearing expensive boots, tasteful fashion jeans, and a business casual leather jacket.  Her long dark hair, bright blue eyes, and flawless features make me wish I was young again.  She starts the elevator and pulls out her iPhone, quickly checking her calendar.  She looks up at me.  “Let’s see, you must be James Ross?”  She shakes my hand briskly. “Rebecca Hanley, Premier Supply.” I realize with a pinprick to my ego that this young girl could be my new boss!
  

The elevator begins to rise, and I give Rebecca what I hope appears to be the friendly smile of a seasoned executive, but she has already turned back to her iPhone.  Trying somewhat lamely to be witty, I ask her, “So Ms. Hanley, what does Premier supply?”  She looks up at me with a distracted expression and starts to tell me when the elevator jolts to a sudden halt!  Rebecca mutters a silent expletive as she taps a speed dial number on her phone.  “Jeff, the damn elevator is stuck again!”  I hear from the phone, “OK Sis, I’ll get on it.”  She gives me a tight smile of apology and I can tell that she is more annoyed about this inconvenience to her than to me.  Rebecca turns back to her phone.  Rather than waiting in awkward silence, I ask her again about her company’s products.  She looks up at me and I’m not sure whether she is assessing me or dismissing me.  “Our products and services are, she misses a few beats but then recovers, somewhat confidential. I may tell you more after we have talked.”  The elevator jumps to a rocky start and we ride silently to the fourth floor.  When we clunk to our destination, a young man in a faded college sweatshirt and sweat pants pulls the gate open.  His unruly hair and stained hands make me guess correctly that he is an artist.  He has an easy contented smile.  Rebecca gives a brisk introduction.  “James Ross, my brother Jeff Hanley.  He”, she pauses, manages the building.”  As I follow Rebecca to Suite 410, I think to myself there’s a story here!