The Questioner

  “¡Hola! How is Tom Graham feeling today?”

  “Hola yourself, Trina. My arthritis is acting up a bit with this rain we had earlier this morning, but I’ll feel a lot better if you’ll let me treat to lunch.”

  “Why, thank you. I guess that wouldn’t violate any rules.”

  “I must say you look most attractive today!”

  “Well, thank you again. It’s a special occasion!”

  They ordered and Tom paid for their order with a credit card. Trina had Chicken McNuggets; Tom again had a dollar-menu double-burger. “Do you always use a credit card?” she asked.

  “Well, I guess I do. I rarely carry cash since credit card statements help me monitor my expenses versus my budget better and, of course, I get cash back on their rewards program. Most merchants, even McDonald’s, accept cards these days...so why not? The only exception I know of is my barber. To be completely honest, I did get some cash at the credit union this morning because I’m visiting my barber this afternoon.”

  “My dad is making me set up a budget. Are you telling me that it’s a lifelong chore?”

  “Before computers, I used to keep a separate bank or savings and loan passbook for each financial goal that I had in mind. My closer friends used to laugh at me for parceling out my income that way. I keep it to myself, but I know who’s doing the laughing now. It’s the best thing on earth that you can do for yourself to assure future comfort. I’m also a strong proponent of dollar averaging on my investments. It paid off handsomely for me...same idea really. It’s how I purchased a few shares of McDonald’s Corporation stock along the way. Yes, I would recommend that you budget forever even though your goals change over time.”

  “Oh, Lord, tell me it isn’t so” she said laughingly. Trina made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. “Do you normally drive to McDonald’s?”

  “Yes, I don’t live too far away, but far enough for an old duffer. When my wife and I retired, we moved from the Northeast Heights to the West Side just to give our lives a little jolt. We told our neighbors that we were going to spend our remaining years on the vibrant West Side. Paseo gets us right back to the old ’hood whenever we feel the need. Whoops! Forgive me, please. Do you need a ride back to school? I see that your buddies have deserted you. Of course, I’d be delighted to give you a lift.”

  “No, I drove. My dad bought me a Toyota for my senior year. He got tired of chauffeuring me to after-school events, I guess.” Trina was tickled with how much she had learned about Tom just from these several off-the-cuff questions.

  The two of them sat in a quiet alcove of the restaurant. Trina chose a table away from the hubbub so that they could converse easily. The drawback was that that part of the restaurant had been warmed appreciably by the sun emerging from the clouds. “If it’s not too warm, I think this will do nicely, don’t you?” asked Trina as she made herself comfortable by removing her cardigan and draping it over the back of her chair.

  “My arthritis appreciates the warmth; this will be fine.”

  “First, let me thank you for treating me to lunch, but let me thank you too for your willingness to be the guinea pig for my classroom assignment.”

  “I can’t tell you how pleased I am. You have brought excitement to my otherwise humdrum Tuesday. My wife has a class in French most Tuesdays so I customarily forage for myself. It’s my lonesome time. You’ve given me something to look forward to. How do we proceed?”

  Chapter 6

  Trina grinned as she saw herself in her mind’s eye licking her finger and making a score-one-for-me motion in the air. She had been right on with his wife’s Tuesday commitments. “Firstly I would like to ask several housekeeping questions so to speak before we get into something meaty. From what you just told me, I now know that you are married and comfortably retired. I had surmised that!”

  “Yes, very happily so. We have been married for 54 years. My wife is a wonderful woman. I have been working on a poem, An Ode to my Wife. If you absolutely insist, I’ll let you read it.”

  “In due time, maybe, but, for the nonce, do you have children?”

  “Yes, indeed...two, grown and on their own...a son and a daughter and they each have two children. So my wife and I are most fortunate in that regard.”

  “Are you a native New Mexican?”

  “My children are, but I was born and went through high school in the sovereign state of Iowa. My family moved here for health reasons as it came time for me to go to college in 1951. I’m a Lobo with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. I hope I’m not being guilty of anticipating your next questions.”

  “You’re doing fine, beautifully in fact,” averred Trina. His use of the adjective sovereign caught her ear. There is probably some political significance behind that. She penned a quick note to herself. “And could you give me a quick synopsis of your work history?”

  “Earliest jobs were lawn mower, baby sitter, theater usher...10 cents an hour and watch all the movies you wanted on your own time, and golf caddy...50 cents per 9 holes and we frequently caddied double. That was in my youth in Iowa and I still thank God I was never on a corn detasselling crew. Then in New Mexico in my later teens, I was a busboy, a grocery sacker, and a furniture mover. I was such a neatnik that I managed to get fired in short order from all three of those. In college, I was treasurer for four years for my fraternity...the job paid my chapter dues...and, in the summers, I was a fieldman for the USGS...that paid all of my non-tuition expenses. My folks underwrote my tuition and books. Am I being too detailed?”

  Trina straightened up a little in her chair as she heard the treasurer remark added on to the B.B.A. degree. While her some college had come up short, she thought the accountant bit would be her next score. “I’m enchanted, please continue.”

  “I haven’t had anyone show this much interest in my background since I filled out a PSQ...Personnel Security Questionnaire...when I applied for a security clearance to go to work for Sandia Labs. You are a tonic for my soul!”

  Trina grinned warmly at him. “Sandia Labs? Were you smart in school?”

  “Smart aleck is more like it. Both my kids were in the National Honor Society in high school. In my high school, the honorees were elected by the senior class. I didn’t make it! The best I could do was the National Athletic Honor Society. Fortunately, I had lettered in golf. I was a shrimp throughout high school and my mouth did a lot of talking. You probably have one of me in your school.”

  Trina nodded in response. “Indeed we do!”

  “My kids have never let me hear the end of that National Honor Society thing. For the record though, I was valedictorian of my class. In college, I was political enough to be granted membership in Vigilantes and Khatali, the sophomore and senior men’s honorary societies. A true scholar, though, I was not. In later life, however, I did pride myself on the fact that I had PhDs working for me. You’re the first person I have ever mentioned that to.”

  Trina laughed, “I must master the fine art of rationalization. Where did your post-college years take you?”

  “Well, in my first year out of college, I worked for the First National Bank of Albuquerque as an ‘officer trainee’...translate that as a teller hired at $300 / month with a promise of a $25 / month increase after three months if my performance merited it. After three months, I had to go in and ask if I had disappointed them somehow. The response was ‘well, if that is what we said, that is what we will do’ and I got the raise. I decided then and there that that job ladder looked pretty slippery.”

  Tom paused for a French fry or two and then continued, “I went back east, got a room in the Jersey City YMCA with a view of the Empire State Building out my single window, and got a job with the Western Electric Company working on computers. I wrote my first computer program in Assembly Language in 1956. I had hit the big time! In short order, I was assigned to work in Boston, then in Manhattan, and lastly in Philadelphia. After eighteen months, however, my sinus condition was killing me and
I returned to New Mexico. While awaiting my government security clearance to come through, I worked for New England Mutual trying to sell life insurance...I had a terrible time backing the hearse to the door as in ‘you want me to check with you next week? For whom should I ask if you aren’t here?’

  “I then went to work for Sandia Labs until I retired 31 years later. It wasn’t my highest title, but my favorite from my Sandia days was Administrative Assistant to the Manager of the Tactical Weapons Development Department. I spent my most and best years though as a business systems analyst / programmer.”

  “If my quick calculations are correct, you have been retired then for about 23 years. Can that possibly be true?”

  “You’re absolutely correct. My wife and I decided we would spend five more years trying our hardest to work our way another rung up the ladder. The lightning didn’t strike; we were fully vested age-wise and service-wise for Sandia’s defined pension plan; and we had very capably managed our savings and investments. Most importantly, we wanted to retire to, not retire from, so we took early retirement in 1989...smartest thing I’ve ever done. Money-wise, we’re okay. Health-wise, we can hear footsteps behind us. All in all, I’m very happy except generally on Tuesdays.”

  “I will presume that today is an exception to the exceptions. I think I could expound at quite some length really on your station in life. My guesses had substance, but really were not all that close. Let’s educate me further on the details that might describe your character. I have a number of broad-based questions.”

  “Fire at will.”

  Chapter 7

  Trina looked a little more serious as she asked, “How do you feel about women’s lib?” Tom paused for a moment and then began. “That’s a tough question because it touches so many areas, but I think I can give you a meaningful answer without too much diatribe. Firstly, I certainly unconditionally support the principle of equal pay for equal work and I think the past several years have shown great progress on that score.

  “Secondly, let me vent my spleen in regard to names. I think hyphenating last names as a show of female liberation is absurd and changing given names to render them genderless is equally ridiculous. It is counter-culture for no reason. My older sister, rest her soul, wished to discard her parent-given name of Christine and adopt a more nebulous Chris as if that was going to magically change anything. I am aware of a number of female CEOs at major companies who have broken through the glass ceiling with no alleged necessity for name modification. Personal names are part of our culture. They are frequently used to honor our forebears, as was the case with my sister Christine. Our culture has massaged the name problem over the centuries. It very easily permits each generation to come up with its own bevy of popular given names.

  “Last names are part of our culture as well. Just how many generations will this hyphenating craze survive? Using names to designate where a person hailed from was discarded long ago as it became unwieldy. I suspect Icelanders will soon abandon the tradition of adding ‘son’ or ‘dottir’ to the names of their children. Hanging on to their cultural inheritance, however, as long as possible is, I think, a most worthwhile goal. In that regard, I am reminded of a recently married very intelligent Hispanic lass trying to maintain her cultural inheritance by using the format...given name father’s surname y mother’s maiden surname de husband’s surname...as in a famous New Mexico lady’s name of Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven. My acquaintance’s effort was rendered too unwieldy by her mother having changed her surname to a hyphenated version.

  “As regards bra burning or going bra-less, if that is part of your question, my reaction was totally negative. I find it difficult to believe that leaders of the movement felt in any way that that would elevate women in the eyes of general society. We have enough sex crimes as it is without women flaunting their breasts in front of those men who lack self-discipline.”

  Aware that she was well endowed and suddenly recalling her mother’s admonition, Trina reacted to Tom’s pronouncement by placing an arm across her chest to cover her bodice. Realizing what she had done and being then embarrassed by her gesture, she immediately returned the arm to her lap. Tom showed no cognizance of her actions and continued with his discourse.

  “If role-reversal is part of your question, I feel strongly that the designation of who holds which job in a marriage is nobody’s business but the couple in question.

  “On a more personal level, it was my sincere pleasure to serve as mentor in the workplace for several female employees who were quite able to demonstrate outstanding competence on the job. Even more rewarding was seeing them benefit from the effort.

  “These are the thoughts that your question triggers in my mind. Did you get a meaningful response for your purposes?”

  “Yes, I fear I did”, said Trina as she blushed. “Perhaps, it revealed some of my own character.”

  Tom looked at her quizzically. He was somewhat nonplussed by her retort, but he did not pursue the significance of her remark.

  Chapter 8

  Quickly recovering her composure, Trina looked at her notes and said, “Let’s try another broad question. What are your thoughts in regard to charitable giving?”

  “Well, let’s see what pops into my head on that one. Generally speaking, it’s older folks who have disposable income that can be tapped for charitable purposes. The smartest thing Congress ever did was to permit such folks to deduct such a gift from their taxable IRA required minimum distribution amount. I sincerely hope the Congress reauthorizes that provision. I have taken advantage of that incentive and would like to continue doing so.

  “I feel that my primary responsibility in life is to work hard so as to provide adequate food, clothing, and shelter for my immediate family. I am strongly opposed to an estate tax because I would like the residue as much as possible to be passed on to my children to ease their successive burdens. Anything over and above that I consider eligible for contributions.”

  The emphasized anti-estate-tax sentiment caught Trina’s ear and, as she jotted that down next to her sovereign note, she came to a conclusion. Trina paraphrased Governor Susana Martinez’s convention statement by saying to herself, “I’ll be darned, he’s a Republican”.

  “I admire folks who tithe to their churches, but I do not have membership in a specific church. The closest I have come to tithing is that, in my working years, I gave a percentage of my salary to the United Way. Upon retirement, I decided to direct the distribution of my charitable funds myself. There are so many worthwhile causes and I tried to respond to most of them. Frankly, that was a big mistake as I became disenchanted with many of them over time. My mail was filled with requests more and more frequently for greater and greater amounts. I was convinced that I was on the mailing list for every known charity. The percentages of contributions that went towards additional fund-raising and administration piqued my unease. I even entertained myself trying to think of causes for which I could be a well-paid chairman. I finally concluded, as I have learned is true of many of my fellow retirees, that your contributions are meaningful only if you super-size them for a selected few ... a medical condition that is of concern to you or your family or a hand-up situation for certain folks particularly in need or a significant something or other that would leave the world a better place. That is not to say that the occasional car wash or bake sale doesn’t get my support and I’m always an easy target for Girl Scout cookies. I get my greatest personal pleasure from supporting The Nature Conservancy. They are generally the recipient of my memorial contributions and have a place in our wills.

  “I understand that Americans are the most giving of people on earth. I cherish the warm feeling that goes along with that. What’s my character score for charity?”

  Chapter 9

  “I’m not so sure that it was as good a question as I thought it might be. I was going to ask a question about religion, but I see now that religion and character are not necessarily inter-related.
In the hope of world peace, I must believe that there are men and women of good character in all of the world’s religions.”

  “I believe I can attest to that. While on occasion we see evidence of intolerance by zealots, I have friends who practice a variety of faiths and there is no question at all in my mind as regards their trustworthiness or their character. A Catholic acquaintance of mine in college suggested that, if I would respect his beliefs, he would respect mine whatever they might be. We became the closest of friends. Extending that contract with others in a wide variety of religious practices has netted me quite an ensemble of lifelong friends.”

  Trina simply nodded her head, looked down at her notes once again, and frowned ever so slightly. She was beginning to think that she was barking up the wrong tree as far as proving out his character. Surely every religious faith has practitioners from the full spectrum of character. Perhaps, Mr. Trujillo was hinting at that when he steered his students away from ascertaining political beliefs. While multi-tasking this predicament in her head, she decided on a new tack for questioning Tom. “Tell me about your travels.”

  “My wife and I were fortunate to have an excellent vacation benefit at Sandia. In those 30 odd years, we had two goals. We managed to visit every state in the union in quite some depth and we came within a whisker of visiting every reserve maintained by the National Park Service. The national parks and monuments are truly wonderful places for anyone to visit – just fantastic whether scenic or historic. After we retired, we even upped the ante and visited quite a few foreign countries. We had moved into that small gated community on Eagle Ranch Road between Irving and Paradise just so that we wouldn’t have to worry about our home while we were gone. My comic line is ‘we visited all four continents and crossed both oceans’. My wife is still game, but I find the rigors of travel more and more difficult...‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’ to quote one of my mother’s sayings. Travel is indeed an educating process.”