1. He finds his first outfit.

The lad walked into the office of the marine towing outfit dressed in the cleanest jeans he could find, a button down shirt, and some worn, but presentable deck shoes. His hair was pulled back into a neat pony tail and he had put on his best confident face. Sitting in the office were an old man and a young woman. The old man was in a soft parlor chair facing the door as he walked in so the lad gave him a nod for a greeting and turned his attention to the young lady at the desk.

"I spoke to you on the phone yesterday?" he asked.

"That's me. What have you got there?” she responded.

"It's a resume' I've put together". When she heard this she gave a quick laugh and but caught herself. He looked a little confused and didn't know what to say so he just queried, "You don't get many of these here, do you?"

"Hell. We don't get any. It's nice though. It should answer most of my questions.” She read it for a minute. While she was reading, the lad was aware now that the old man had been looking him over. He didn't look over but could see the old man's head moving about as he scrutinized the potential employee. The lad wondered what the old man did around here and wondered why he didn't have anything better to do than just sit around sizing up the visitors. Then he realized that she hadn't asked him anything for a while. She was still reading and flipping the three pages as if looking for something.

"No tugboat experience?"

"No," he answered, "but there's a lot of time on the water in there. Ships and fishing boats. You saw those, right?"

"Oh yeah, I saw. Tell you what. I'll keep you in mind for a call if I can't find our regular hands. You're working now so just sit tight and be ready to come in if you take the call. Thanks for coming in."

"Sure.” He tried to think of more to say to get her to talk to him more. He froze.
"No problem. Appreciate your seeing me.” He turned and nodded to the old man again. This time he got a nod back. He made for the door and gave one last look at the young lady. She gave a polite smile and sat there, still, until he closed the door behind him.

She turned and looked at the old man until she had his attention. "Well? What did you think? He seemed like a pretty good guy."

"He did. Good looking boy, but green. Pretty green. Maybe he should cut his teeth with some other outfit and then we'll give him a call."

"Maybe you should train him and keep him for yourself. How hard is it to keep a good hand lately?"

"I know. As long as I've been in the business I haven't seen it like this. Days before I owned tugs, they was lining up to get aboard one. Now I buy a boat or two and I can't keep 'em long enough or sober enough to work every day."

"That's the point I was going to make. Maybe you should let this one try a day with the little tug and see how he does.” The old man let out a quick sigh. "He could be a keeper.” The old man looked at the young lady with no expression. After a few long seconds, she knew what to do. "I'll see what the jobs look like tomorrow and call him in.” She smiled at him to try and get him to smile back.

Nothing. But she said anyway, "Don't worry. I have a good feeling about this one."

While the two had been discussing the lad's future, he was on his drive home. He was worried that the interview hadn't gone too well. He smoked a few cigarettes and worried that he looked like a college boy in his clothes, that the resume' was a stupid idea. He worried that he hadn't been assertive enough; maybe they thought he was weak. He thought that maybe this tugboat idea wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe he could find a ship. Maybe his new wife wouldn't mind the months away from home, but it would have been nice to work a schedule that was easier on their home life. Maybe he could get used to a day job if he really tried.

Once at the house he told his wife that all had gone pretty well and he would check out some other outfits in the area soon. They had some dinner and watched a little TV. He would have to call his temporary agency and let them know he would be available in the morning. He reached for the phone. His hand was an inch away from it when it rang. "Hello?”....... "Oh. Yeah. I could be there.”....... "Captain's name again?” He scrambled for a pen scribbled on an old newspaper with a broken pencil instead. "Little tug at the main dock. Got it......... No. Thank you........ I will. Thanks again. Bye."

He turned and looked at his wife, smiling broadly. She could tell by the look on his face that the outfit had called. She knew that they would call him. He was good at finding work. She knew this before he left the house that day. She knew that when he drove away, he was driving off to his first tugboat.