Turns on TV

Fall asleep, stay for a few seconds, wake up.

Grandpa: What? How long have you been standing there? ​Silence​ Sure, I can

answer a some questions! What do you wanna know? ​Pause​ What was life like?

Well, the school was very different, because the year was different. I started high school

in 1940. ​Pause ​ As you probably realize, Pearl Harbor was December 7th, 1941. So

immediately, the school was under war conditions. You had air raid drills, when you

had to go out in the hallways and cover your head, and so on. Anyway, on December

7th, I was at a place called Frank Dailey’s Meadowbrook, which was a nightclub, on

route 23. At that time they had big bands, and they were giving a concert on that sunday

afternoon. We were all enjoying the music, and we were sitting, we weren’t jumping up

and down like some people do today, but we were all in the audience listening, and

about three quarters of the way through the program, a man walked out onto the stage.

Pause ​ And he says, “I want to interrupt this program a minute, just to tell you that we

have just received word on the radio, that the empire of Japan has attacked Pearl

Harbor, in the Hawaiian islands, and that’s all the information we have at the time.” I

was very young, but I went and I tried to enlist in the naval air core. I went to New York

and took my mental test, and I did okay. Then I took my physical test, and the first day,

everything was fine; they said to come back the next day. The next day, the first thing

they gave me was the color blind test, and I failed. I tried to get into the navy again, just

as a sailor, but I flunked the color-blind test again. So I went to college, and I finished

two terms, and then I went down to New York once more to enlist in the navy again.
This time, they were looking for people with some electronic experience, and I had that,

so I had no trouble passing the mental test. However, I still had the color blind test

facing me. So the chief heading officer at that point showed me the color chart, and he

showed it to me this day, and the next day, and the next day, for about a week, and I

memorized it. So even though I couldn’t really see the number in the dots, I knew what

was in there. So when it came time to take the color test, I read the top line, just like I

could see every number. I knew it so well that if the guy in front of me read the top line, I

could read the bottom line without even looking at it. So I got into the navy. ​ Pause

But anyway, I often told Ted and Richard, when you get out into the world, money isn’t

going to be the most important thing you make. You have to see what opportunities

come before you; some are going to be good, and some are going to be not so good,

but you have to keep your eyes and ears open. Also, don’t be afraid to take on more

work, and don’t be satisfied that you’re doing just this, and you’re happy doing just that.

But if you’re going to get ahead, get ahead by doing more work.

Pause

That’s it?

Pause

You’re welcome!

Continue watching the tv