Arthur F. Perfetti
Artist and Webmaster
Trinity Hosting Services
Page Two (2):
Post Military:
Upon my discharge from the military I returned to New York, now I needed to work, a married man with responsibilities. But what job experiences did I have, you guessed it NONE, boy my future sure looked good. My Parents had bought a small home in Ormond Beach, Fla. not intending to move there for a few years, my wife and I moved and played house sitter for awhile. I got my first job as Assistant Manager of the General Cinema Theater in Ormond Beach, and my first experience with a gay, transvestite, entertainer also the manager of the theater, my boss.... The job didn't pay much but I saw all the new released movies over and over and over again. The manager made the mistake of allowing his picture to appear in the local News Paper while in drag, well... the new manager was Mr. Schwartz, and elderly Jewish gentleman whom I learned to greatly admire and respect, he taught me alot about business responsibilities. I was impatient at twenty-one years old and felt I could do better so I gave notice of my leaving for what I thought to be a better job with stronger possibilities for advancement, Assistant Manager of American Steel Fence Company, Daytona Beach, Florida. I soon found out that good old Mr. Schwartz tried his best to teach me patience, if I had stayed just two more weeks, he was promoted to Regional Supervisor and I would have been Manager of the Theater. Oh well another lesson learned (so I thought).
I took over as manager of this business in less than a year. I was doing well so I thought, to well I guess. I became a model for a local Hair Stylist whenever I wasn't working at the fence company, I wasn't paid for this it was a really great ego trip. It wasn't long before I found out that ego's do trip... The Hair Stylist Association was having a National Competition to be held at Miami Beach, Wow what an opportunity, I could be a star, my stylist was a sure winner. Well the owner of the fence company didn't want me to take the day off for the trip. Heck, I was a good manager, I was making him plenty of money, I deserved a day off once in a while, and I was the boss. So I took the day off, I lost my job, and they cancelled the competition, my ego just tripped....
Back To School:
Well now I was unemployed, with no place to go but back to school. I Started college and majored in accounting, I was going to be a Certified Public Accountant. I never gave a second thought to what I was suppose to be doing. My wife Harriet had a good job with a brokerage house in Daytona as a secretary. So off to school I went, I became good friends with a classmate, Stewart was his name, we opened a public accounting office together, my first partnership. Well as partnerships sometimes do... it dissolved. Fortunately I had met a gentleman who owned two Independent Banks, one in Flagler Beach, Florida and one in Bunnell, Florida. Mr. Charles Creal was an older Southern Gentleman with much wisdom. I was offered a job as Auditor of the two banks with prospects for advancement. So off I went, a new profession with only success in my future.
A Lesson To Learn:
Mr. Creal took me under his wing and taught me the banking business, I learned to love this man in a very short time, he was the kind of a gentleman that even today I don't know that I could fill his shoes. He became sick with cancer, and I watched him dwindle down to a very frail man. He called me to the hospital one day in order to tell me that he would keep his promise to me. The two banks were merging and the job he had hired me for was no longer needed, but he promised me a future. He had given word to the necessary people involved that upon his death I should become Vice President of one of the Banks. I wondered for a long time to come, how a dying man in such pain could be concerned about keeping a promise under circumstances beyond his control. Lesson learned, my dad often told me, "a man is only as good as his word" well this great southern gentleman taught me the true meaning of an old saying. Mr. Charles Creal was a good man, and I look forward to being with him again.
So now I was Arthur F. Perfetti, Vice President of the Bank of Flagler Beach, (ego #2), I enjoyed the banking business, we had a great staff of employees, my life finally seemed to be on the right track. I was successful, a prominent figure of the community, married, a baby boy and nothing but good to look forward to. I was a success!
I soon found out success without God is only temporary!
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