CROSSING PATHS
with what people think about him. He had just recently retired from West Michigan Air Care, and I heard he bought a fi shing boat on Lake Michigan. Anyone reading this article and who knows him will attest to this. How could this be the same guy? Could this hardened helicopter mechanic really have a heart? He would be about the right age as the Steve Miller that had a big infl uence on a young Greg Judd. I looked across the table at Jim and he said, “I’ve got Steve’s
number on speed dial.” All this time that Jim and I were talk- ing, Greg was sitting there wondering what was going on. Jim pulled out his phone and made a call. Jim got a voice mail and he recorded this message: “Steve, Jim Freeman. Did you do seismic work up in Utah in the 1970s working out of the goat patch? If you did, I have someone here that wants to talk to you. Call me back.” By now, Greg’s jaw had dropped, his mouth was gaping open and his eyes were bugging out. Was this really happening? We all started laughing, just thinking about the possibilities. What if it were true? What if this really was the same guy? Greg hadn’t talked to him in more than 35 years and he was just a kid then. Then the phone rang! Jim answered, then was listening to someone talk on the other end and we couldn’t hear what was being said. After a minute or so, Jim looked at Greg and handed him the phone, saying, “Here, someone wants to talk to you.” That was about two years ago and since
then, Greg has moved on to work as a Bell Helicopter tech rep. Steve is enjoying retirement. What happened when Greg got on the phone with Steve? Well, that’s a 30-minute phone call that you’re going to have to ask them about if you see them. You can just about imagine though, can’t you? We all started in this business some-
where and we probably had a “Steve Miller” of our own to infl uence our lives and our careers. Do you remember who yours was? The funny thing to think about is how many of us are “Steve Millers” ourselves and just never thought about who we were infl uencing. We have to ask ourselves, are we a good infl uence or a bad infl uence? What would you do if someday someone called you out of the blue and told you that you were the reason they became a mechanic? I know Steve pretty well. I can tell you, that phone call prob- ably meant more to him than anything in
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his life. I know Steve wasn’t trying to be a mentor. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He wasn’t doing it for a reward. It was just Steve being Steve. This industry could use a few more mentors like Steve and who would help infl uence fu- ture mechanics/DOMs and factory tech reps like Greg. This industry needs them desperately. There actually was a prince in my story, and I hope my headline makes more sense now. It’s true — the aviation world is a small world after all!
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