Over the years I've had a multitude of jobs. In this series I'll look back on the colorful mosaic of people, places, and tasks with which I've been associated.
Texas Puro
“She claims I snickered at her,” he said as he hung up the phone. He looked around, smiled, and in a heavy New York accent added: “What am I—a candy bar?”
I was in the office of Texas Puro, having answered an ad for bottled water delivery driver. Houston, 1977. The salesman from New York City was Jack; his accent and sarcasm stood out amid the twang and folksy regionalism of Southeast Texas. He looked the part of a New Yorker: neat brown leather jacket, dress shirt, nice shoes, and a manicured salt-and-pepper beard. Jack was going to train me. That a well-appointed salesman would take the wheel of an Econoline van precariously filled with crated 5-gallon water bottles and train a new guy on a route was a bit odd, I suppose, but all of this was new to me.
Two metal buildings near Hobby Airport were home to Texas Puro, a rag-tag branch of its New York parent. Vans here were too small for the job. The full bottles, each weighing over 50 pounds, were crammed into semi-protective wooden crates that didn't fit in the van and swayed and shifted with every stop or turn. Crates would crack and splinter; broken bottles were commonplace. A layer of glass shards, large and small, lined the metal floor of each van.
While on the route, Jack was on a hurried, New York City pace. “Give me a numbah! Give me a numbah!” he would yell impatiently as he drove, his eyes scanning the buildings, searching for an address. With a Key Map on my lap, I tried to help. "Come on, come on!" he urged. “And don’t be yawning,” he’d warn. “I’ll kick you out of the van if you yawn.” Our mornings at Puro began quite early; I arrived tired, but learned not to yawn in front of him.
Jack was brash, but not mean. And he was funny as hell. Working at Texas Puro was an experience full of hilarious anecdotes and featured an incredible cast of characters. It was an experience that changed my life, too, because it was there that I discovered a best friend.