Railroaders' Nostalgia > Mad Dog Chronicles #125 Anger Management

# 125: Anger Management

W M (Bill) Jones had an interesting way of letting you know that you were out of the doghouse. The morning after a serious blow up was always interesting for science sake. Were you still on the Sh** list or were you forgiven?

After the morning calls to and from the General Office, if all was forgiven, Jones would appear in the door of my office next to his and say, “Let’s go to the (Sixteenth St.) Depot for coffee." So we would walk across the parking lot from our offices at 18th and Wood Street to the Amtrak station at 16th and Wood Street. We would order coffee and usually a donut from the lunch counter there. Then we would stand at one of the counter tables and drink coffee, eat the donut and Jones would tell old war stories. He never said I am sorry I lost my temper. However, you clearly knew that all was forgiven. At least until the next time.

Over the course of the year that I worked for him, we probably had that little makeup session at least two dozen times. I must say that after awhile I did learn what would set Bill off and was able to avoid these major eruptions.

Jones actually liked me. He more than once told me that I had learned the Western Division quicker and knew its operating characteristics better, than any of his other Assistants. I think that he forgot that I had worked as a switchman in the San Francisco Terminal and spent 13 months as a Terminal Officer at the Oakland Terminal. Also, I had grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area and certainly already knew my way around Northern California.

I also seemed to manage his temper tantrums better than most. This also helped me to keep a close rein on my own temper as I could see the debilitating effects of Jones eruptions on the other Division Officers. Mike Irvine, the Assistant Superintendent whom I replaced, left for the Marketing Department largely to escape Jones temper.

It was also interesting to see how the other Division Officers copped with Mr. Jones temper. In some cases they had learned how to avoid contact with Jones as a technique to avoid his temper. As the Assistant Superintendent in charge of day to day operations, most of them preferred to talk with me. Although this frequently put me in the position as the barer of bad news. I came to understand that one of my roles was to serve as a buffer between Jones and the other Division Officers. The fact that I was able to do this fairly consistently and effectively helped me immensely when I later became the Division Superintendent of the Western Division, myself.

5/21/05
mdo

By "old war stories," do you mean World War II war stories?

JohnSweetser Wrote:
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> By "old war stories," do you mean World War II war
> stories?

No, railroad stories, mostly about Jones days on the LA Division, where Bill had started as a dispatcher and risen to the position of Assistant Division Superintendent.

mdo

I met Jones shortly before he retired when he had been moved to OP&C. As I remember, he was looking forward to moving to Florida.

ExEspee Wrote:
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> I met Jones shortly before he retired when he had
> been moved to OP&C. As I remember, he was
> looking forward to moving to Florida.

Bill did move to Florida. Unfortunatly Bills wife died of cancer soon after that move. If you think about it, Bill retired at age 65 in 1979 or 1980. That would make him 90 years old this year. I understand that he is still alive, however I have no contact with him.

mdo