uring the summer of 1985, I worked at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in
Manhattan as an Elevator Operator. I received ten dollars per hour and worked one of
the passenger elevators wearing a blue tuxedo, black shoes and white gloves. Some of
the people I met were very interesting, by and all, they were most pleasant. There
were three rules that an elevator operator had to follow: No leaning up against
walls; no newspapers or any other reading material; and no talking to the guests unless we
were spoken to first.
One day an elder gentleman, who stood about five foot nine inches and was balding, entered the elevator. He asked me to take him to the thirty second floor. I pushed the button for that floor, and the doors started to shut. It was then that I noticed one of the clerks standing at the front desk making the most peculiar eye contact with me. The doors finally shut and the elevator car proceeded its upward ascent. I realized that the elder gentleman was standing directly across from me. He had his arms crossed and he stared directly at me with a stern smile on his face. His stare didn’t crack a bit. He just kept staring at me. It got to the point where I felt very uncomfortable standing in front of him, while retaining good posture, and trying not to make eye contact. I made quick glances over at him every few seconds to see if he was still staring. He was. I looked up to the floor counter and noticed the thirty second floor rapidly approaching.
The doors opened. He uncrossed his arms and stated, "You’re a very nice lookin’ young man." I pushed the door close button and watched him carefully as he walked away. The doors closed and the elevator car proceeded downward back towards the lobby. I started thinking to myself that that was a pretty perverted old man, who was probably looking for some action from some young college kid. I was just glad that I was not working the night shift.
The elevator car came to a rest at the lobby level and the doors reopened. It was then when the clerk asked me how the last trip went. I said it went okay and wondered what he knew of that elder man. It was then that he stated, "You know who that was? That was ol’ blue eyes himself – Frank Sinatra."
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