He came to US from the Ukraine when he, like me, was 40. I was a regular guy, and Nick was a decorated guy, one who was involved in coming with his best men and pumping the concrete into Chernobyl’s reactor in 1986 right after the explosion. He was a big boss, used to have a company car, a driver… and still he immigrated to the US, was looking for every opportunity to work, took construction jobs and shoveled dirt…
His wife, a music teacher, took college courses in accounting, and she was able to land a job. Not a lot of money, but it was a start. Nick did not have much luck, but kept trying, and did not whine. That’s when we met in the Bronx, and from that day our friendship was formed.
He finally landed a job with the city as inspector and that when we left for Florida, and they stayed in the Bronx. Soon he told me that he switched to a private large construction company, and became a Project Manager.
With his funky English, he was an unlikely candidate for the company to hire, but when you talk to Nick, you can’t not notice the energy, over the top confidence, and brilliant sense of humor, which was shining even through the language and cultural barriers.
Humor got him the job. They showed him a project and asked his opinion and there was something he said that surprised them. They did not see anything wrong with it, but the boss said that they never did it this way.
And Nick turned to the boss and asked him how old he was when he lost his virginity. They guy was stunned, but answered.
- You see, you did not have sex before, but you liked it, didn’t you? Same here. You never did it before, but try it and you will like it. Even though you might still like sex more…
Everybody burst into laughter and that’s how Nick got his foot into the company. He is a great guy, and a very knowledgeable and resourceful engineer. They learned it later and learned to appreciate it.
He is still there.
He is their VP.
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