God is sending Mr. Acheson a message.
Today, the New York Post ran a story that simply mystified me. It was entitled, “Samaritan Trucker Fired” and tells the story of a man named John Acheson who was fired from his job at Sid Wainer and Son a Massachusetts based specialty food purveyor, for essentially being a good samaritan.
According to the news report:
1. On August 4, Mr. Acheson witnessed a fatal shooting and was delayed after assisting the NYPD in tracking down four suspects in the shooting; and
2. On August 19, Mr. Acheson witnessed a woman strike a livery driver with a hammer and flee. He called 911, chased the woman into an alley and assisted police in arresting her.
3. On August 20, Mr. Acheson was fired from Sid Wainer and Son. His boss (who is unidentified in the story) is quoted as saying, “John, I gotta let you go. You don’t know how to mind your own business”
Simply astonishing.
I’m not sure the founder, Sid Wainer, would’ve approved of Mr. Acheson’s firing. According to the company website, Sid Wainer’s “code of ethics, his strength of character and his resolve to be a positive influence on all those around him” were ideas and concepts Sid Wainer taught his son and current President, Dr. Henry Wainer.
I’m not beating up on Sid Wainer and Son the company, I just think they missed a heck of a marketing and publicity opportunity by not parading the courage of one of their own in the media. They also missed a great human resources potentiality. In an industry where it is difficult to find quality help (truck drivers), Mr. Acheson could’ve become a symbol of “the type of quality employees the company hires”, and used that good-will to attract more and new employees.
Listen, any company that has it’s roots in the depression-era (it opened in 1914) that survives today has my awe and well-wishes, but unless there’s something to Mr. Acheson’s story as reported that we don’t know, they blew it on this one.
That being said, I believe Mr. Acheson has the opportunity to parlay this unfortunate situation into something better for himself. It is obvious that he is special in some way. Perhaps these incidents were cosmic tests of some sort. Perhaps he should consider driving for a paramedical organization or a hospital. This would fulfill his obvious need to assist others in distress and plays to his vocational skillset. Perhaps in doing so, if he has the smarts for it, it will lead him to a career in medicine, or as an EMT.
It is obvious to me that Mr. Acheson is meant for something more. I hope he realizes it too.
September 1st, 2008 at 17:06
John Acheson worked as a fellow union driver with me till last April for the last 2 years. If i didn’t know the guy i’d agree with you that his firing was totally uncalled for. The fact is though that for 2 years he was constantly having the same things happen to him. He stopped a crackhead from stealing from his truck, he called the police about kids he thought were being absused. He helped the county health department shut down a restaurant he was delivering to, etc., etc. The guy was always getting complaints from customers that he wasn’t getting there on time, or was not minding his own business. He wanted everyone to be his best friend, and basically drove everyone at my place of work crazy with his big mouth. Finally last April my boss had to similarily get rid of him, and despite a lot of not being really in love with the ol’boss none of us complained. You can believe i’m BS’ing you, but i have no reason to, just find the guy and talk to him for 10 minutes and you will see that he’s a few fries short of a happy meal. But don’t do it by computer as he’s banned from using the internet by the Feds after he was convicted of boiler room stock scams back in the early 90’s and sent to prison (google his name and you’ll probably find info, i didn’t have to as he bragged about it and other felonies he’d done constantly!).
September 2nd, 2008 at 20:15
Scott,
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to write and comment. From what you’ve written, it’s even more clear to me that Mr. Acheson was/is cut out for something other than being a driver for Sid Wainer and Co.
Like him, I think we all struggle with figuring out “what we’re here for”. Best regards,