Bernie H.

When I got out of Columbia’s adult program for programmers (1.5 years) my first job was programming at a small firm in Princeton.  Since I needed the job, you know how it is, you’ve got to get that first job under your belt, I commuted from the lower east side to Princeton during the week for about half a year.  That became idiotic and I moved out to Princeton into what I suppose you’d call a boarding house.  It was a terrible job, with a terrible boss who was always yelling at you; and you couldn’t do anything to please him.

But I met two great friends there that made life fun.

When I came back I got another terrible job working in Moonachie (sp?) for Liz Claiborne designing a payroll system for their sales people.

Here I had a whiz kid for a boss, but he was also not very good boss-wise, always proving that he was one step ahead of you, and generally in over his head.  This was worse than the previous job in terms of pressure.  I wore a beeper.  If the program didn’t work correctly (very complex and interfacing with AS400 computers) then sales people didn’t get paid on time.  So I would often find myself traveling at night to New Jersey to fix something or other.

But I had to prove myself.  It was my second “real” programming job.  But as soon as the program was in place, I quit and started looking for work in New York.

I had some very strange jobs for a while.  For example: Working at night on fixing programs in a Law firm.  I was the only one in the place.  Very spooky job.

And eventually came up with an interview at the ad agency in Manhattan (Chelsea) and this was where I met Bernie.  Bernie was 10 years older than me, and also from the bad part of the Bronx.  Very Irish, and a member of a gang for a while, and he and I just hit it off.  Even though in the early days the Irish kids were always after us (Jews, or non-Irish).

One day, I borrowed a 75mm f1.4 Leica lens from somebody or other and had the camera at work and went around taking portraits of co-workers, and bosses.

Here is Bernie.  Laughing because he thinks this portrait idea is funny.  He turned out to be a great boss.  Maybe the best I ever had.  He was on your side in the big corporate meetings; and he was a corporate survivor.  Knew how the game was played.

I ended up staying at the ad agency for a long time – by far my longest job experience.  Was it 8 years?  I don’t know exactly.  But during the whole web revolution, a new team came in promising to make us into a more modern firm (and costing the agency millions and doing nothing).  And Bernie was going to retire soon anyway, so he left.  And about six months after he was gone, I left too.  God, the arrogance of the team that came in.  It was during that time when top management knew nothing about this new technology and they were open to being duped left and right by the new technologists.

I still get a card from him every Christmas – and it’s been my fault that I haven’t paid him a visit in a very long time.