The Chris Moeller Archives

"Together , you're an advertisement. Apart, you're tourists": Comradeship in the Workplace

Sometimes moments of inspiration come in the smallest of packages. I used to work with a guy named Dick. What the hell, I'll tell you his last name. It was Lem Mon. That's with a space. French, maybe. Des Moines must have a few. Dick was a technical director like me at WHO Radio, and he was my senior in the business by maybe three decades. I pounded the mighty Wurlitzer (as one of our hosts would say) for Drive-Time Des Moines, and he piloted the mid-day Jan Michelson show. He was a great guy. Still is, I'll bet. We've both gone on to greener pastures.

Anyway, one time I walked into the bathroom at work, and Dick was doing his business at the urinal. I said something insipid to him like "Funny meeting you in here," but his response blew me away-- "This is where the Dicks hang out." I had never been so impressed in my life. That's called raising the level of conversation.

I thought back to this exchange today while reading this tribute to Gene Siskel, penned by his former television partner Roger Ebert this week upon the 10th anniversary of Gene's death. It's really a must-read-- warm and funny. The anecdote that I found strangely similar to the one about Dick was posted in the comments thread. A former newspaper colleague of Gene's at the Chicago Tribune recalled many evenings in the 1970s seated at a poker table with the film critic. Siskel evidently had an annoying habit announcing his current economic status to the table every couple hands-- i.e. "up two dollars", "down five dollars". The last time this colleague saw him before his death in '99, Gene walked past his cubicle, grabbed one of the Tribune papers off a nearby stack, put it under his arm, and said, "Up 50 cents."

posted by CM @ 8:40 PM