b"machine shop at GE. I was one of the few that stayed until the company closed down. I got a phone call: You are acceptedfor school safety. We'll be sending the application? I said: Oh yeah. I was laid off and I was doing this part time job. I had to make a decision about what I was going to do. I put in the application. When they called me and said I was accepted,I said: Well, I have a problem. I got two interviews that are scheduled and I would appreciate it if youcould hold on andgive me a chance to have the interviews to see if I get either job. And they said: Yes, that's good, we can do that.You were looking for other jobs as well?Yes. One job was in Paterson, New Jersey where I was working. The pay scale was low, I had to pay tolls, transportation. I had to get up at three o'clock or four o'clock in the morning to get from Brooklyn. I wanted this job; I already knew everything about this job. The commute was long but I was willing to do it because I needed a job.It was a hard decision. The pay scale for school safety officers was $16,000 to start, a lot less than what I was making,$25,000 a year. But I said to myself: I don't have to pay car fare; I don't have to be getting up so early in the morning.So, when I went back and I told the man from School Safety:I'll accept the job. He said: You made the right choice. I said: Well, I hope so. I took a big pay cut. I slept on it, I prayed on it. The next day I got up and I said: Well, this is whatI'm going to do, I'm going to accept the job. And it turns out to be one of the bestdecisions I ever made. I worked from1981, I retired in 2006. I did my time, I enjoyed my work, I did the best I could. When I reached five years, I said: Well,my destiny was only five years at each job before. I got five years in, so hopefully God, keep me in the right direction to do what I got to do. When I reached ten years, I wrote to the union and I asked the union: When will I be vested in thecompany? They say: Oh, you got a year more to go. I said: Oh boy. By the time I reached 20 years, I say: Oh boy,great. I had a great career and a great time. I enjoyed my job and I enjoyed working for the city.What City agency were you under?School Safety was under the Board of Education.Where did you first work as a truant family assistant and then where as a school safety officer?I worked at 500 Pennsylvania Avenue, Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. Family assistant was also knownas family worker, family teachers aide. I went from paraprofessional to assistance professional. They gave me different titles based on which budgets had money to pay me.When you went to the school safety job, what was your first school you worked at?I went to the Board of Education school safety training academy.I graduated from there. My first school afterfinishing the academy was Thomas Jefferson High School. They were looking for volunteers for Thomas Jefferson. I raisedmy hand. The man said: Did I see a hand up? Thomas Jefferson? I said: Yeah. He said: You sure you want to go there?I said: Yeah. He said: Do you know that school? I say: Nah, but I don't mind, I'll take any school, but I want ThomasJefferson. The reason why I wanted Thomas Jefferson was because it is walking distance from my house. I don't have topay car fare. I stayed there for nine years.142 "