Well Al I suppose you will be saying to yourself that I haven’t never had no experience in business and what kind of business could I get in to that would pay me the right kind of money. Well old pal if you will stop and think I haven’t never tackled no job yet where I didn’t make good and in the 1st place it was pitching baseball and I hadn’t only been pitching a little over 2 yrs. when I was in the big league and then come the war game and I was made a corporal a few wks. after I enlisted and might of stayed a corporal or went higher yet only I would rather pal around with the boys and not try and lord it over them and you can bet it won’t be no different in whatever business I decide to take up because they isn’t nothing that can’t be learned Al if a man gos at it the right way and has got something under their hat besides scalp trouble.
As for getting in to the right kind of a place I guess I can just about pick out what kind of a place I want to start in at as everybody that reads the papers knows who I am and how I went in the war wile most of the other baseball boys kept the home fires burning though I had a wife and a kid to look out for besides the baby that came since I went in and for all as I knew might of been here a long wile before that. So it looks like when I make it up in my mind what business I want to tackle I can just go to whoever is at the head of the business and they will say “You bet your life we will find a place for you after what you done both in baseball and for the stars and strips.” Because they won’t no real man turn a soldier down Al a specially 1 that erned his wound strips acrost the old pond.
So they won’t be no trouble about me landing when I decide what I want to go in to and the baseball men can offer me whatever kind of a contract they feel like and I will give them 1 of my smiles and tell them they are barking the wrong tree.
Regards to Bertha.
Chi, Dec. 8.
Friend Al: Well Al this is a fine burg where a lot of the business men don’t know they’s been a war or read the papers or nothing only set in front of the cash register and watch how the money rolls in or else they must of bet 20 cents on the Kaiser and have got a gruge against the boys that stopped him.
The other night I was with a couple of friends of mine that’s White Sox fans and we was histing a few and 1 of them is asst. mgr. down to 1 of the big dept. stores so I told him I was going to quit the game and try and bust in to some business where I could work up to something worth wile and he says they was shy of a floor man down to their store and he would speak to the mgr. about me and if I come down maybe I could land the job, as the floor man has to be a man that can wear clothes and carry themself as most of the customers is ladys and you half to give them a smile and make them feel at home and the job pays pretty good jack.
Well I didn’t think much of the job only this bird is a kind of an admire of mine on acct. of baseball so I didn’t want to be nasty to him so I went down there yesterday and he introduced me to the mgr. and his name is suppose to be Kelly but I guess Heinz would be closer to what his name is. Well he asked me had I had any experience in dept. stores and I said yes I had had all the experience I wanted the times I had been in there with Florrie shoping and my feet was still sore yet where all the women in Chi had used them for a parade grounds. So he said he meant did I ever have any experience working in a store so I said do I look like a counter jumper or something? I said “I have had the kind of experience that I guess a whole lot of men would give their right eye if they could brag about it, playing in the big league in baseball and the big league in war and I guess that’s enough of experience for a man of my age.” So he said “Well our floor men is not suppose to hit the customers with a bat or tickle them with a bayonet either one so I don’t see how we can use you right now.” So I said “I have got a charge acct. here and here is where my wife does pretty near all her shoping.” So he said “Well if we was to give jobs to all our customers why as soon as they had all reported for work in the a.m. we could close the doors and get along without a floor man.” Well Al all as I could do was walk away from
