On the job surprises

Marilyn Pellini

My son is Mike (the original was Michael, and ordained by me, his mother, never to be shortened).

When he was in second grade, however, he was asked to fill in a form with his full proper name. When he came home from school that day, he asked me how to spell Michael, as he had forgotten some of the letters included in it. By then, he was Mike or even Mikey, as in that cute commercial you might remember from back then. It was for a new brand of cereal where the older brothers and sisters said about their first taste test, “Mikey will try it.” While still an elementary student, one of his teachers said Mike should be a lawyer when he grew up. Did that mean he did too much talking in class, I wondered?

Mike went all through the Katonah-Lewisboro schools and then on to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. One of his college friends was registering to take the LSAT and convinced Mike to do so too. He received a very respectable score, and so the following fall found himself at Villanova Law. Just recently, he told me throughout his first year he was constantly wondering how he got there and what he was actually doing there.

As the months passed, he found he was actually enjoying the law, and finally it was time to seriously look for a job. He applied to a couple of those fancy New York City firms, but working those long arduous hours was not what he was looking for.

He next went for an interview at a large firm in Morristown, N.J., and called me shortly after that asking, “Mom, have you ever heard of a man named Nicholas Katzenback?”

“Sure,” I retorted, “Why do you ask?”

Mike wondered if we were talking about the same person because he was surprised I was familiar with that name. I explained that the man I knew of had been in government.

“Well, I guess we are talking about the same person,” Mike said, and told me he had just been interviewed by Mr. Katzenback. Fortunately, his secretary told him some important facts about this famous man, as Mike had not yet been born when he was involved with the Kennedy Administration and then Attorney General under President Johnson.

I was so excited that Mike was able to have this unique experience. My immediate question was, “Mike, what was the first thing he asked you?” Actually, I was told, it was more of a statement than a question.

As Mr. Katzenback perused Mike’s résumé, he observed, “Oh my, I see here you are an Eagle Scout.” I guess the rest of the interview went well, because it was just a few days later he was called and told that he was hired. He stayed with the firm for a couple of years, and then moved on to other things as is common with young people today. He did stay long enough, though, for his dad and I to visit his office after working hours a number of times. We would pick Mike up and go to this famous little steak restaurant in his area. The best steak you’ve ever eaten for $10.95. I wonder if that place is still there? Even if the price were double that, it would be well worth it.

One early evening when we went up to the law firm, the door to Mr. Katzenback’s office was open, which was not usual. With Mike as our guide, we were able to view the many unpublished photos of him with famous people, especially the Kennedy family and children. Whenever Mike asked about certain photos, Mr. K gave him some details of when they were taken and who the people were in the pictures.

After a number of different job experiences, Mike now does corporate counsel work on his own in Massachusetts and enjoys every moment. His daughter, my granddaughter, is in her first year at B.C. Law and loved it from day one. It should be interesting to see where it takes her in the future!