Sometimes it pays to be a Gaylord
So I'm driving Mrs. D's car in town and doing errands this week. I decide to take her car into a local oil change shop, since I'm driving right by it. Last time I'm in there, I did not like the feeling I got from their service, but thought I'd give it another chance. I was sitting in the waiting room when the new manager walks in to introduce himself. He's an Mexican guy, late 30s, early 40s. He wanted to let me know that they were under all new management and that any past experience I had would be addressed with a more positive outcome this visit. He was very professional and I appreciated his approach. Funny thing was, when I first got there, I noticed a pretty rugged looking crew of 4 hispanics and a couple of white guys.
I needed quite a bit of maintainance done, so I knew this would not be a real cheap day. Even though there were plenty of discounts with the new management. As we were figuring out the bill in his office, 2 other guys walk in and are waiting for the manager to finish with me. I look at them an notice some major ink work on both of them and one in particular. I ask him, "Hey, does that say RIP Bam Bam on your neck". He looks at me very suspicously and says "yeah, he was a friend of mine." I also notice a crown on the other side and said, "Is that a LK crown?" All three guys stop dead and stare at me, obviously wondering why a suburban white guy would ask that. He said yeah, it was. I smiled and said I'm an old Gaylord. They about fell over. Very funny. The one LK says, hey, the manager is an MLD! The manager smiles and says, "RETIRED MLD". We got to talking and one of the LKs knew Willard in the joint. Anyway, they discounted my bill by almost 50% and on top of it, I was running late for another appointment and the MLD tossed me his car keys and told me to use his car as much as I needed it.
Typically, I keep a low profile when it comes to my past. Especially in my little world of Suburban Americana. So it's pretty ironic when something like this happens and it actually pays off!
So I'm driving Mrs. D's car in town and doing errands this week. I decide to take her car into a local oil change shop, since I'm driving right by it. Last time I'm in there, I did not like the feeling I got from their service, but thought I'd give it another chance. I was sitting in the waiting room when the new manager walks in to introduce himself. He's an Mexican guy, late 30s, early 40s. He wanted to let me know that they were under all new management and that any past experience I had would be addressed with a more positive outcome this visit. He was very professional and I appreciated his approach. Funny thing was, when I first got there, I noticed a pretty rugged looking crew of 4 hispanics and a couple of white guys.
I needed quite a bit of maintainance done, so I knew this would not be a real cheap day. Even though there were plenty of discounts with the new management. As we were figuring out the bill in his office, 2 other guys walk in and are waiting for the manager to finish with me. I look at them an notice some major ink work on both of them and one in particular. I ask him, "Hey, does that say RIP Bam Bam on your neck". He looks at me very suspicously and says "yeah, he was a friend of mine." I also notice a crown on the other side and said, "Is that a LK crown?" All three guys stop dead and stare at me, obviously wondering why a suburban white guy would ask that. He said yeah, it was. I smiled and said I'm an old Gaylord. They about fell over. Very funny. The one LK says, hey, the manager is an MLD! The manager smiles and says, "RETIRED MLD". We got to talking and one of the LKs knew Willard in the joint. Anyway, they discounted my bill by almost 50% and on top of it, I was running late for another appointment and the MLD tossed me his car keys and told me to use his car as much as I needed it.
Typically, I keep a low profile when it comes to my past. Especially in my little world of Suburban Americana. So it's pretty ironic when something like this happens and it actually pays off!
posted by Admin_2 at 3:24 PM
2 Comments:
I just happened across this site and I'm curious. I worked with the sets bacik in 1970 to 73 when I worked at Teen Challenge. Life went on and I was out of the scene for a long time but have resently gottne back into it through the son of one of the guys I knew back in the 70s, Edgar orsini. In case anyone is interested, I'm providing a link for a picture of some Spaulding/Division Kings that I took back in 1972. The link is found at:
http://gangresearch.pbworks.com/
Edgar is in upper left with the afro. I'm wondering if any of you knew Edgar, Tiny, Big papo, or Wop. And what about the Ashland kings, Michael Perez, Sonny, Lucky, Cholo, etc. I know the Spaulding Kings I worked with are all dead (shot, stabbed, Aids,and overdoses), but I'm wondering if anyone can shed any light on their lives or their passing. Same with the Ashland Kings. I worked primarily with the Latin Kings because of my connections with them but also worked with the PVPs, Blackstones, Latin Counts, etc. Mostly along Division and north Avenues, but also along 18th street and in both Cabrini and Robert Taylor too. Things have really changed. I'm currently working in Humboldt Park in the Gangs to Grace ministry. I'm pleased to say that Teen Challenge is also still active on Cortland. I'd be interested to know if anyone can shed any light on any of these matters. I'm also looking for books on the sets that will fill me in on their history after 1975. I just finished My Bloody Life on the Latin Kings and know of the Lords of lawndale, but anthing else I could read would be of interest.
You might want to come on the forum at http://pacman712.proboards.com/index.cgi? . I posted your comments and will let you know when I get a response.
With respect
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