The past as prologue

What is it that compels me to want to establish employ on my own? Is it that I feel that I often know far more about many things than many of my employers or contemporaries? Or could it be hereditary? The last may be a stretch, or maybe not…

I suppose that the urge to at least attempt comes from my namesake, Grandpa. I have extensively written about the Sage of Steubenville (1902-1981), and his history is still instructive. Where eighth-grade was the norm growing up in his West Virginia

An iconoclast, he never fit the mold of an employee from the Ohio River valley from Pittsburgh to the panhandle of WV to Jefferson County Ohio. That would have been in a coal mine or in a steel mill in the pre-OSHA days. His father was in fact killed in a mill accident, which could have helped push him away from that. He decided his fate was in police/fire radios.

Grandma had been to a business school, and offered to help him in passing the test for his radio license, which he failed twice. Grandpa refused any help, preferring to study and learn and make it happen on his own. The third time was the charm in 1934.

Leasing radios to the agencies was unique in the day, but common now. He was well known for his integrity, his work ethic and his personality. His territory was extensive, In Ohio:  Steubenville, Jefferson County, Wintersville, Brilliant, Martins Ferry, Wellsville, Carrolton. In West Virginia: Brooke County, Weirton, Follansbee and Wellsburg

Can-do is a good descriptor, and he sold off the final piece of his business in 1978.  Obviously, tube radios were being replaced by solid-state electronics. But his customer list was important, his honor and customer service having a large residual value…

Okay, I am not the gentleman as described – yet, his background and instincts could have been passed down? My using a wheelchair often sets potential employers on edge. Okay then, it is my intellect (and courage) that needs to take over...How do I broadcast me??