Where in the world is Jerry Bloch??
I recently went to see "Up In The Air" with George Clooney. The movie is about an extremely handsome and charismatic man who travels around the country 300 days a year for his work. He rarely sees his apartment, has no wife nor kids, and is obsessed with travel - airline mileage, credit card award programs, airport security systems. His good looks and carefree manner attract women, but he never gets beyond one night stands until he meets his female counterpart. I really enjoyed the movie and love love George Clooney.
Anyway, as soon as the credits rolled I thought to myself, "Oh my God. Nobody would believe that there really are guys like this in the world, but I actually knew one - Jerry Bloch!!"
In 1982 on my first day at work at Holt, Rinehart and Winston, textbook publisher, I was told by my boss to clear out a desk that belonged to a man who "never uses it" and make it my own. I very carefully emptied the desk of tons of receipts, scribbled notes, pens, old boarding passes, and more than one photograph of an attractive lady. I put everything into a cardboard box, set it aside in the cubicle area and arranged my own office paraphalia atop the desk.
Weeks later Jerry Bloch strode into the office and came over to "his" desk and was surprised to find me sitting there. I felt that I had gone through his intimate possessions and was a bit uptight about meeting him. But, Jerry could put a statue at ease! He was tall and fairly thin with a most engaging babyface, blue eyes and brown hair. He had an easy smile and totally relaxed manner. I adored him on first sight!
It turned out that Jerry and I were both product managers for the math textbooks and computer software k-8. Jerry totally focused on the software while I focused on the textbooks and keeping Jerry on point. Jerry had carte blanche to do anything he wanted to introduce the math testing software to the educators of America and thereby sell our corresponding textbooks. Remember this was the early 80's and personal computers were just beginning to rear their reflective heads.
Jerry and I spent the next two years flying all over the country to education conventions, national teacher association meetings and regional sales meetings. Often Jerry went off on trips that I didn't have to go to, but at least once a month I flew with him to Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, wherever. Jerry knew all the ropes of flying and I followed his direction. He had been everywhere and he knew people in every city. We were the ambassadors from headquarters in New York and it was the high flying '80's. Jerry and I organized dinner parties, hospitality suites, cocktails, whatever we wanted - all paid for by the company. We had a good time wherever we went - and Jerry was always the life of the party. He was charming, handsome, friendly and funny! Everyone liked Jerry! Especially the ladies - pretty teachers and lovely principals alike.
I knew that Jerry had been married to a woman who lived in California and had a teenage son who he adored. In fact, the whole time that I traveled with Jerry he had one goal - obtain enough airline miles to take his son to Europe for summer vacation. And, Jerry never spent a dime of his own money - everything was on the company. He didn't even have an apartment in New York. He always stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel which was across the street from our offices. When Jerry was in Manhattan he often asked me to accompany him to the finest restaurants in the city. We had a wonderful time - all charged to Holt, Rinehart and Winston!
From day one we were buddies; not lovers. We never had the chemistry to be more than friends, but could discuss our love lives with each other. He once introduced me to a gym teacher from Brooklyn, where he grew up, who I had a wild fling with and Jerry was pleased for us, but not jealous. And, when he said good night to me in a hotel bar and walked off with one of his ladyfriends I didn't feel the slightest bit of jealousy. We were friends and we liked it that way!
After a couple of years of darting around the country, I met a man who I eventually married and was moving on to a more settled existence - steady boyfriend, new job without travel, different career path. Jerry too was moving on - he started dating a woman at work from Altoona, PA - and was going to settle down and get married. It was hard to believe that Jerry could really settle down. He had been a nomad for at least 3-4 years by that time and I couldn't imagine him giving up his wanderlust.
I lost track with Jerry before either of us got married. If you know Jerry - even if you just talked with him while waiting for a plane - tell him I miss him and love him and he's my very own George Clooney!!!!
Real Estate Hint - There are times when Realtors have had enough of a client and want to drop them like a hot potato! This doesn't happen very often as we put up with almost anyone and anything to make a sale. But, once in a blue moon - every few years - there is a buyer or seller that a Realtor has given up on and wants to stop working with. A few years ago I dropped a seller who wouldn't lower her price on her house. That in itself wouldn't have made me stop working with her, but the fact that she wasn't nice to me and tried to second guess everything I told her to do to get the house sold made her impossible for me to work with. Recently I stopped working with a buyer who I had been working with for 18 months. 18 months!!! I had given up on ever finding a home that he would purchase. He had not learned anything from his search. He had recently made it harder to find a home as he pared down his search to a few salient points - one town, one style, 4 bedrooms, garage, big flat yard, quiet street. When I told him that his search was impossible at his price level in the town that he chose, he didn't listen. Time to cut the ties. Time to let him work with someone else. Time to move on to clients that I can help!!
Anyway, as soon as the credits rolled I thought to myself, "Oh my God. Nobody would believe that there really are guys like this in the world, but I actually knew one - Jerry Bloch!!"
In 1982 on my first day at work at Holt, Rinehart and Winston, textbook publisher, I was told by my boss to clear out a desk that belonged to a man who "never uses it" and make it my own. I very carefully emptied the desk of tons of receipts, scribbled notes, pens, old boarding passes, and more than one photograph of an attractive lady. I put everything into a cardboard box, set it aside in the cubicle area and arranged my own office paraphalia atop the desk.
Weeks later Jerry Bloch strode into the office and came over to "his" desk and was surprised to find me sitting there. I felt that I had gone through his intimate possessions and was a bit uptight about meeting him. But, Jerry could put a statue at ease! He was tall and fairly thin with a most engaging babyface, blue eyes and brown hair. He had an easy smile and totally relaxed manner. I adored him on first sight!
It turned out that Jerry and I were both product managers for the math textbooks and computer software k-8. Jerry totally focused on the software while I focused on the textbooks and keeping Jerry on point. Jerry had carte blanche to do anything he wanted to introduce the math testing software to the educators of America and thereby sell our corresponding textbooks. Remember this was the early 80's and personal computers were just beginning to rear their reflective heads.
Jerry and I spent the next two years flying all over the country to education conventions, national teacher association meetings and regional sales meetings. Often Jerry went off on trips that I didn't have to go to, but at least once a month I flew with him to Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, wherever. Jerry knew all the ropes of flying and I followed his direction. He had been everywhere and he knew people in every city. We were the ambassadors from headquarters in New York and it was the high flying '80's. Jerry and I organized dinner parties, hospitality suites, cocktails, whatever we wanted - all paid for by the company. We had a good time wherever we went - and Jerry was always the life of the party. He was charming, handsome, friendly and funny! Everyone liked Jerry! Especially the ladies - pretty teachers and lovely principals alike.
I knew that Jerry had been married to a woman who lived in California and had a teenage son who he adored. In fact, the whole time that I traveled with Jerry he had one goal - obtain enough airline miles to take his son to Europe for summer vacation. And, Jerry never spent a dime of his own money - everything was on the company. He didn't even have an apartment in New York. He always stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel which was across the street from our offices. When Jerry was in Manhattan he often asked me to accompany him to the finest restaurants in the city. We had a wonderful time - all charged to Holt, Rinehart and Winston!
From day one we were buddies; not lovers. We never had the chemistry to be more than friends, but could discuss our love lives with each other. He once introduced me to a gym teacher from Brooklyn, where he grew up, who I had a wild fling with and Jerry was pleased for us, but not jealous. And, when he said good night to me in a hotel bar and walked off with one of his ladyfriends I didn't feel the slightest bit of jealousy. We were friends and we liked it that way!
After a couple of years of darting around the country, I met a man who I eventually married and was moving on to a more settled existence - steady boyfriend, new job without travel, different career path. Jerry too was moving on - he started dating a woman at work from Altoona, PA - and was going to settle down and get married. It was hard to believe that Jerry could really settle down. He had been a nomad for at least 3-4 years by that time and I couldn't imagine him giving up his wanderlust.
I lost track with Jerry before either of us got married. If you know Jerry - even if you just talked with him while waiting for a plane - tell him I miss him and love him and he's my very own George Clooney!!!!
Real Estate Hint - There are times when Realtors have had enough of a client and want to drop them like a hot potato! This doesn't happen very often as we put up with almost anyone and anything to make a sale. But, once in a blue moon - every few years - there is a buyer or seller that a Realtor has given up on and wants to stop working with. A few years ago I dropped a seller who wouldn't lower her price on her house. That in itself wouldn't have made me stop working with her, but the fact that she wasn't nice to me and tried to second guess everything I told her to do to get the house sold made her impossible for me to work with. Recently I stopped working with a buyer who I had been working with for 18 months. 18 months!!! I had given up on ever finding a home that he would purchase. He had not learned anything from his search. He had recently made it harder to find a home as he pared down his search to a few salient points - one town, one style, 4 bedrooms, garage, big flat yard, quiet street. When I told him that his search was impossible at his price level in the town that he chose, he didn't listen. Time to cut the ties. Time to let him work with someone else. Time to move on to clients that I can help!!
Great story - as always, so entertaining. And it goes to show, if you have lived a little, by the time you get to a certain age, some of those experiences start to show up in books and movies!
Reply to this