ORAL HISTORY: David Mitchell $.50 Short in 21 Years

David Mitchell today (13 years after his remarks transcribed here). Photo courtesy Marion Naar

April 7, 2014

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days.  A grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities enabled 15 interviews to be transcribed, and the Historical Society has made this one available for readers of the Wave.  All the transcriptions may be read at the Cape Charles Museum.)

David Mitchell speaks April 12, 2001

PART 3

There was a company that came down called Union News; they took over the concession part of the building.  They served all the meals, at the counter and in the dining room.  They gave me a job as the dish and linen to the ferries and I did some custodian work also.  I did that until the ferries stopped running.  The last day out of Kiptopeke, I put the linen on the boat, turned the key into the secretary and left, not knowing if I had a job.  As I was leaving I thought about the badge I used to wear, Badge 39, and I wanted to keep it as a souvenir.  So I went back down and asked the lady for the key and said I left something in the laundry room.  I went and got the badge and came back to give her the key and Mr. Forrest was in there.  He said, “David, tomorrow morning I want you to bring some linen down to the Bridge.  Get all of it out of the linen room and bring it down there.”  I said, “I didn’t know if I had a job.” He said, “Oh yeah, you’re one of those who didn’t want your severance pay and wanted a job instead, so you got a job.”  I said, “Fine,” and I was happy about that.

I started working down there in maintenance.  I started off as custodian there.  I had to go across the bridge and pick up the trash from the islands and South Plaza, clean up, and come back.  And one day, Mr. Anderson, who was one of the people who worked in the office over there, told me Mr. Forrest was looking for a good man to work in the administration building — there was mostly women over there.  He told Mr. Forrest, “Now there’s a good man for you right there!  He comes in looking like that every day.  Clean and neat.”  Mr. Forrest said he wanted me as soon as possible, so I got off the truck and went over there.  I worked there from 1964 until 1966.

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The Chief of Police sent for me to come to his office, said he wanted to see me.  The Chief said they had been watching me for two years and he asked me what kind of trouble I had gotten into.  It kind of bothered me for a moment and I said, “Trouble?  I don’t know of any trouble.”  And he said, “Are you sure?”  I said, “Yes, I’m sure.”  He said, “Well, we’ve been watching you for two years and I see something in you that I like and we want to put you in security.”  And I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say!  He said, “You keep this under your hat.  We’ll have a meeting and get it all straightened out.  We’ll let you know something later on.”

So, later on Mr. Forrest came to me and said, “David, you didn’t tell me you’re going into security.”

“I don’t know if I’m doing it — they talked to me, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“Yeah, they’ve been asking around about you and they asked me about you and I told them you weren’t worth a so-and-so.”

So I said, “Maybe that’s the way you see me.”  I was walking and he kept walking behind me and he said, “No, no, I told them you’d make them a good man over there.”  I said, “Thank you, but they haven’t told me anything.”  And I kept on going.

Finally, they did give me a job in security.  The Chief asked me if I could do it and I said I didn’t know.  I’ve never done it before, I’ll just have to try.  So I was in security for 21 years!  There were times when I handled all the money that came in from the tolls and bagged it up and got it ready for Brinks to pick up in the morning.  Anyone on the midnight shift had to do that.  I had gotten to the point where I not only worked in security on the road and in the tunnels, but I was supervisor at the South Plaza and I did work some at the North Plaza.  So when you’re supervisor at the South Plaza you handle the money that comes in to send it to the bank.  And out of the 21 years that I was in security and handled the money at different times, even taking tolls, I came up 50 cents short once!  Only 50 cents short, nothing over.

After that, in 1987, I retired from the Bridge Tunnel.  I told you a while ago I was 39 — well, I am celebrating my 36th anniversary of my 39th birthday!  I’m 75!  I’ve been retired for over 13 years.  In 1988, I was Citizen of the Year for Cape Charles.  And I got a little plaque for that.  It was because of some of the things I was doing, and I’m still doing them right now, run little errands for the elderly or taking them to the doctor, or whatever they need.  A lady called me to put a light bulb in, Mrs. Buchanan, she couldn’t get up to do it and I’d go over and do it.  She wanted to give me something for it and I would say no, this is my good deed.  “Well, you’d better take something for it or I’ll wear you out and use up all your good deeds!” she said.

I didn’t tell you about my wife.  This is my wife right here.  I’ve been knowing her for just about all of her life.  They told me when I married her, that I robbed the cradle.  I’m a little older than she is.  We’ve been married now for over 40 years.  It’s working on 43 years.  We have a daughter that is still with us.  We had a son, but he died last October.  He was a diabetic and he suffered quite a bit the last two or three years.  We thank God for the 31 years and 11 months that He let us have our son.  My daughter is 39 years old and she’s working for the State Department.  My wife worked in the school system for 26 years, she’s retired.  Right now, I’m doing little odd jobs just to keep my mind occupied and my body toned.  I think I’m doing the right thing and I’m feeling good.

This concludes Part 3. CLICK for Part 1; CLICK for Part 2.