Dri--ick, dri--ck, dri--ck, dri--ck ... What a strange sound I thought. Thereit's again. Dri--ck, dri--ck, dri--ck. I decided to investigate and I got upfrom the kitchen table, leaving my bowl of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, andstepped into the hallway. The sound changed from dri--ck to drip. Iwalked down the hall to the front entrance and was hit by a drop of waterimmediately on my right forearm. I looked up and saw a circular stain withwater, slowly gathering into a sufficient mass and weight to allow it to fallonto the floor. Looking down, I saw a 24 inch puddle, slowly expandinglarger on the slate floor as the water continued to drop.

I hurried back to the kitchen and grabbed my mom's dish towels. I thenwalked back and placed them on the top of the water. I ran up the hallwaysteps and knocked on my dad's bedroom door. A minute earlier he hadfinished taking a shower. I told dad there was a leak in the entrancehallway. Upon hearing my news, dad began to investigate the cause ofthe water leak. The problem was not visible from inside the bathroom.We would later find out that the pan underneath the shower stall tile hadcracked and allowed the water to escape. The water trickled down onto afloor joist. When the drops grew heavy enough, they fell directly downonto the hallway ceiling and then seeped through the drywall, making thecircular stain that I first noticed.

The drips from the ceiling had lessened when dad turned off the shower. Itsoon became clear that the pipes were not spraying out pressurized water.I heard dad muttering a four-letter word that started with an S under hisbreath. Since the towels were soaking up the water, there wasn't anythingelse that we could do to minimize damages. Dad walked to his living roomdesk as I went to grab a couple more towels in case they were needed. Hemade a call to a plumber and then started looking through his lower leftdesk drawer. He located a folder that contained information about ourHomeowner's Insurance. He called his agent who informed dad that aclaim would be reported to Erie Insurance. By mid-afternoon the Erieadjuster had contacted my father and he made an appointment to comeand take a look.

The plumber visited us about two hours later. He cut a hole in the entrancehallway ceiling, looked up through the ceiling with his flashlight, andreported that all the pipes were fine. He observed moisture on the bottomof the shower pan and said that the leak was coming from it. He told dadthat the sliding doors needed to be removed from the stall along with theshower pan and the two layers of tile above it in order to make repairs. Hecouldn't match the existing tile, but what he recommended would be aclose match and work out nicely.

I was fourteen years old when this event took place. We lived in Glenshaw,Pennsylvania. I had gotten home from school a few minutes before theadjuster arrived. I was standing quietly and listening very closely as theadjuster spoke to my dad. The adjuster knew exactly what was needed tofix the problem. He discussed the coverage and told dad he would drop anestimate off the following day. He then added, "You were lucky that yousaw the leak so quickly. If it occurred over an extended period of time, thedamage wouldn't have been covered."

I didn't know it then, but this incident would leave an impression on mewhich would one day change my life. I do remember thinking it must benice to be able to travel away from an office and meet people whereverthey live. The concept of helping people seemed like a wonderful career.

When it was time for me to select a college, I applied to four universities.One didn't accept my application and the other three did. Those schoolswere Waynesburg College, Penn State University, and North CarolinaState University. I had always wanted to go to Penn State, but at thattime the university was involved in a big construction project on themain campus. I would have to attend school at a commuter campus forat least one year before I could transfer to the main campus. That wasn'tappealing to me. My immediate fall back choices were Waynesburg andNorth Carolina State University.

Dad and I made a trip to North Carolina. It was NCAA Basketballtournament time. Our hometown Duquesne Dukes were playing UNCthat evening in an early NCAA round. The azaleas and spring flowerswere in full bloom. The pretty flowers were a sharp contrast to those atour home where nothing had yet awakened from the winter slumber. Wetook a tour of the campus and I was impressed by how big this college wascompared to Waynesburg College. We drove away from the main campusto view Carter Finley Stadium. It was a nice looking stadium and I couldimagine the excitement taking place there on game day. Then we visitedReynolds Coliseum. The on-campus basketball arena with 12,400 seatsimpressed me. While researching the school, I had become interested inthe prior success of the basketball program. It had a good history. Littledid I know they would go 27-0 in 1973, but they did not get to play inthe NCAA Tournament because of a recruiting violation involving DavidThompson. In 1974 they would win the NCAA title by defeating UCLAin Semifinals and Marquette in the National Finals. I graduated in 1973,but 1974 was exciting.

Located across from the coliseum was the Student Supply Store. It was lastplace that we visited that spring day. We walked through the store filledwith T-shirts, books, and school supplies. When we were about to leave, asaleslady walked up to me and said, "Young man, I think you are going tobe one of our new students in the fall. Let me just take you around the storeand show you everything we offer." Southern hospitality was somethingdifferent. As dad and I walked back to the car, he said, "The salesladywas really a wonderful person, wasn't she?" I had been thinking the samething. After we left the campus, dad said to me, "I guess we ought to askWaynesburg for a refund of our deposit, shouldn't we?"

My college years passed very quickly. I had not completed my languagerequirement as my senior year closed. Without passing the two requiredcourses I could not graduate. Fortunately, my German professor realizedthat I was a lost cause and she helped me to reach an accommodation withthe dean that let me receive my diploma at the end of the first summersession.

I always wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps and become a salesmanlike he was. He dealt with bulk material handling equipment and I couldsee myself selling conveyors and cranes. N.C. State University did not offera business major. As a result, I had planned to obtain a liberal arts degreeand then go into sales. Life didn't exactly work out that way.

During the spring semester I applied for my first full-time job, whichwas in retailing. I was fortunate that a national retailer hired me at agraduate salary and allowed me to attend evening classes until I graduated.I started with the title of assistant manager. My time working at theRaleigh store was brief. Several months later I was transferred. At the newstore I developed management skills and was taught all about retailing bythe office manager. She was a wonderful person and an excellent teacher,whom I would come to view more or less as my second mother. She knewpretty much everything about retailing. She always called me Mr. Scottand not by my first name Jonathan.

Retailing wasn't going to be my future and I decided it was time to trysomething different. One Sunday I glanced at the...