Carl F. Thelin

          BLACK FRIDAY

Nothing much was said at that staff meeting. I expected more – and it came Friday morning, when Dick Cacioppe came into my office. Dick was a figure head President of Krizman, hired shortly before I was, principally to train Andy’s young son to become president.

“Today is your last day, Carl. Pack up your stuff and leave as soon as you can.” No surprise there. I had expected it. It was the second time I had offended the bosses (GM was the first) and I was impressed that Andy had made Dick do the deed. Mr. Cacioppe was the individual who interviewed and hired me, and was my direct boss. He was also one of the few friends at Krizman that I respected and trusted. It was cruel of Andy to make Dick to the dirty work.

         I WAS INVOLUNTARILY SELF-EMPLOYED

I went home with joy. I told Ramona that I was glad that I could not be responsible for any bad-product fall out now. We planned to find some temporary employment while I was still covered, for 18 months, by the Krizman health plan. South Bend had many opportunities for me, despite that there was a small recession during the period 1981-83 – the results of the Jimmy Carter mismanagement.

I won’t dwell on the several small favors my family got from employers and friends. Suffice to say that you find your real friends while you are unemployed at age 52. .

We decided to investigate if I could succeed by offering my services as a Crash Scene Investigator – Expert Witness. That required finding if it was a realistic goal. My engineering background was good, I knew. If the CR background would impress Krizman to hire me, maybe lawyers would want it, too. I had little experience testifying in court. A simple and direct solution was obvious – go ask a few local trial lawyers who would know. Using the telephone book, I made an appointment with one lawyer from a large firm that did defense work for GM and another with a single practitioner who advertised vigorously for personal injury cases. The one from the defense firm was certain that I could help them, but admitted that the lead time before money would flow well could be two years. Plaintiff work would grow faster. When I talked with the PI guy, it was fun. He became enthusiastic and told me he had several cases for me to look at right away. “But wait”, I asked, “I am hard of hearing. I have never heard other voices like ordinary people do. I’ve been told that my voice sounds like a bad German accent. When I testify, will that be a problem?”

“Hell no - people will think you sound like Henry Kissinger. They will pay attention to what you say.” He was right. I never heard a complaint from lawyers, judges or jurors. I would begin building what would become my final career.

NEXT:  WTS and CFT