Travelin Man

Between 1987 and 1996 I was a travelin man. I had a territory that at times extended from Tucson, Arizona east to New Orleans, La. then north to Chicago, Il, then back west to Kansas City, Ks. I was not home (northern California) most of the time.

I was on a first name basis with Airline Agents, Pilots and Flight Attendants. Hotel General Managers treated me like a VIP.....I stayed in suites not rooms.....I received complimentary bottles of wine and champagne, flowers and candy every time I checked in and I met some very interesting individuals like people that went to school with my older sister, FBI Agents, Drug Dealers from Mexico (the FBI guys were supposed to be watching them), a news network reporter and a presidential candidate (Clinton, Bill not Hillary). Notice I put the newsies and president in lower case and I met them both on the same night. The newsie was nicer and because of the secret service more approachable of course.

I would like to get back to the FBI if I may. There were three of them, all from a Texas border town. There was a pretty big drug lord trial going on in Houston and the FBI guys were there as security for some witnesses that were going to testify against the the accused. Because the Concierge level was the only secure floor, they had the FBI and the informants staying on that floor. For those that don't travel much and have never stayed in a hotel on the exclusive floors, they used to offer free beverages of the alcoholic nature. So, along with the FBI, myself and a few others I was told that we set a new record for the number of bottles of wine consumed in one evening. I can't remember the exact number but is was somewhere over 29 bottles. A short time later, wine was no longer complimentary.

While the wine was complimentary, they had a separate area for an honor bar where they kept the hard liquor. It was up to each individual to sign a card when they made a drink with the hard stuff. Well, it seems the Mexican informants, being involved in the illegal drug industry, did not have any honor and a number of bottles of whiskey and tequila went missing. Evidently the FBI was too busy drinking wine to keep an eye on their charges.

This is but one story of my traveling days and there is even more to this than I am willing to share at this time (it does involve the FBI).