Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Craig W. Dye: Trivial Recollections

During the period October 1986 to late February 1988 I worked with an individual named Craig W. Dye in the Computer Applications Department of the law firm of Hogan & Hartson.  Beginning in late May 1987, Miriam T. Chilton served as the department's supervisor.

An undated memory:

On a morning in about September 1987, at the start of the business day, Craig and Miriam just happened to arrive at work at the same time.  My cubicle adjoined the door to the office suite.  Miriam and Craig were chatting.  I remember Craig referring to "Oedipal conflict."  I still wonder: What on Earth did he mean by that reference?   Was Craig suggesting that I was sexually attracted to Miriam and that I viewed Craig as a rival?  Who knows?  And, by the way, wasn't I supposed to be a homosexual who was in love with Craig?

August 17, 1987:

On Friday August 7, 1987 Craig took a flight to Miami for a one-week vacation.  That was the day department personnel took summer employee Brett Rome to lunch.  It was his farewell lunch; he was returning to Princeton.  I remember that because at lunch Craig and another summer employee, Tom MacIsaac were ridiculing the masculinity of Princeton football team members.  (Didn't former Secretary of State James Baker play football for Princeton?  Be that as it may.)  Miriam attended the lunch.  She told Craig to take a lot of sun block with him; Craig was a fair-skinned Aryan.

Craig returned to work on Monday August 17, 1987.  That date just happened to coincide with the completion of a particular stage of work that department personnel were performing for the client Chrysler Corporation.  Miriam held a staff party in a conference room for all department employees together with  David Kikel, Esq., the attorney who interfaced with the document production staff.  I remember that Miriam had purchased a bottle of champagne.  As David Kikel was trying to open the champagne bottle he said, "I was thirteen years old when I opened a champagne bottle for the first time."  I was glancing at Craig at that moment, and he sneered.  Why would Craig sneer at someone talking about the first time he opened a champagne bottle?

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