After I complained to the Brotz Brothers at Plastics Engineering Company that having raw asbestos fibers float around in the air was likely not a good thing, my career was doomed. A company psychologist interviewed me, and I knew I had to leave. I left on good terms at the end of 1978, heading to California.
I got to Reseda CA in a Ryder truck pulling my 1974 VW Beetle behind. I had about $30 in cash left. Conveniently, a national gas crisis occurred shortly after I arrived. Through the help of Jane, who had taken me in for a time, and happened to work at the Daily News, my idea to start a gas line waiting service took off. The newspaper published this article, radio stations called for interviews, and business was booming – for about two weeks – when the crisis ended.
Fortunately, I found a job shortly after in Van Nuys CA. But I got my first taste of what being an entrepreneur was all about. If only the crisis lasted a bit longer!
