In Chapter 9, I referred to Judy getting her Regents Diploma. At the time, New York had a two-tier high school diploma system. You had the regular New York High School Diploma, but then you had a higher-rated diploma, with special tests and grades, which gave you what was called a Regents Diploma. When I went to RPI and moved into the freshmen dorms (and it was all freshmen in the dorms then) we would talk about our lives back home. About half of us were New York residents, and they all bragged they had Regents Diplomas. The rest of us, from out of state, had no idea what they were talking about; we just had regular diplomas and that seemed to be good enough for our states. As far as I know, New York was the only state with this system, but I could be wrong on that. Since then, they have changed the New York rules several times, and now California has a two-tier system. Very odd to a Maryland boy.
When I wrote this story, I let my wife know that I had a new hero, one as great as Carl Buckman or the Grim Reaper. He was young, handsome, brave, hunky, and wonderful! He was…a snowplow driver! She was not amused. They are not her favorite people. They are either not doing a good enough job, getting in the way when she is driving, moving too slow, or not plowing when she wants them to. Endless complaints! She has obviously never met Hersch Caparelli.
Would NYSDOT have used Hersch for an employment campaign? Possibly. In 1983 there would have been a lot of World War II and Korean War vets retiring from blue collar jobs. A lot of employers would be looking to replace them, and it was also the case that high schools would have been telling kids to go to college, whether they liked it or not.
Enjoy!