One of the first jobs I held after quitting school was working at a TV antenna manufacturing plant where I worked with a very tech minded man named Jim. Despite holding a degree in electrical engineering he was unable to find work, so we wound up together helping to build design and test outdoor TV antennas. These antennae were usually mounted to the chimney and were a necessity back in the day as cable TV  was non-existent.

So here we are the high school dropout and the college man. He was quiet and reserved in public despite having a great sense of humour and we got along well. He taught me many things about our current job that would help me down the road  It was right after  Christmas that he announced that he would be leaving in two weeks. IBM had contacted him and hired him to repair their new Selectric typewriters.

He would be sent to school but with his background, he didn't see it as much of a challenge. With only one lab tech, the work piled up and overwhelmed me. My bosses promised to hire help but they never did and I just quit with no notice when I was offered a position that was too good to pass up.

I happened to bump into Jim about a year later as I was working my new job and we decided to have lunch. Over our coffee, he told me one of the best stories about his new job.

It seems that the service centre received a call from a local business that was having problems with its new IBM Selectric. So my friend was sent out to see if he could ascertain the problem. Upon his arrival, he was escorted to the desk of an extremely attractive and well-built secretary. According to my buddy, she was so well built that she made the actress Raquel Welch look flat-chested

She informed him that she would be typing and for some unknown reason, the carriage would advance for no reason. She had cleared off her desk to give him room to work and my buddy placed his tool bag on the desk went to work. He took the machine apart and checked everything connected with the carriage, but found nothing amiss.

He called the secretary back to her desk and asked her to type something. She inserted a piece of paper and hit the automatic feed until it was centred and began to type as my buddy watched. Sure enough and not into the first sentence the carriage began to advance.

"I know what the problem is but you're not going to like it," he informed her.

"Well can you fix it?" she questioned.

"No, not really," he responded.

"What kind of answer is that? What's the problem?" she spat with a hint of anger in her voice.

"When you lean forward your chest is pressing against the space bar," he said in a calm manner.

She bolted from her desk with crimson colouring her cheeks. The office manager saw this interaction and came over to question him and Jim related his findings. Struggling not to laugh the office manager signed his service ticket and my friend picked up his tools and made ready to leave.

As he passed the office manager's office he could hear laughter coming from behind the closed doors of the manager's office and he could see him through the glass window. His face was beet red and tears were streaming down his face.  While the situation was humorous although embarrassing for the secretary he couldn't understand this reaction.

It wasn't until he passed the same secretary in the hallway that he understood. It seems that she had removed her padded bra and now appeared almost flat-chested. Jim gave her a polite nod as he headed back to the company car. Once inside he allowed himself a good, long laugh.