One of the ongoing challenges was managing employees. I was demanding when it came to the gas attendants — full service at the pumps, windshields washed, oil checked, everything done properly. The attendants were paid minimum wage, since the gas side of the business actually lost money once you accounted for all the associated costs. The oil companies justified this by arguing that pump traffic brought customers into the repair bays, which was where the real money was made. Most of the attendants were part time. If I caught someone skipping the windshields and they refused to do it, I fired them on the spot.

Most employees were fine, but there were some memorable cases. One man I hired walked with a limp from injuries he had received in Vietnam. For several months his cash was short by 10 or 20 dollars at the end of every shift. I spoke to him about it each time but nothing improved, and eventually I let him go. He stood up and told me I could not fire him — that he was an army veteran and I was still an alien, not yet a citizen, and that if I fired him the Veterans Administration would force me to take him back. I told him to leave. A few weeks later I did receive a call from the Veterans Administration asking about my reasons for the dismissal. I told them about the cash shortages and was careful to say I was not accusing him of theft — he could have been losing the money, giving wrong change to customers, whatever the reason — but I could not keep someone who could not handle cash transactions reliably. They said they understood and that was the end of it.

On the other end of the spectrum was a young man named Paul Pacitti, one of my best employees. He was sharp, hardworking, and genuinely helpful. After about a year he left for Miami to work as a waiter at a casino. Before he went he introduced me to his younger brother Ron, whom I hired, and Ron brought along a friend, and I hired him too. Both worked part time.

One night I went with Milan and Vasek to an auto show in Boston. We took one car and left our own vehicles at the station. On the way back, arriving just before midnight, something looked wrong as we pulled in. 2 figures bolted from the front room and disappeared into the woods behind the station. Inside, the door was open and next to the floor safe was welding equipment — someone had been trying to cut through the safe cover. We called the police and they caught the 2 men. It was Ron and his friend. They had apparently gotten drunk and decided to help themselves to some cash.

I had to testify at their trial. Because of Paul and also because I genuinely believed they had made a stupid mistake rather than being hardened criminals, I told the judge I was willing to hire them back. The judge gave them a probationary sentence.