Chapter 7

The drive down to Florida was all interstate highways, and because of that, it was an easy drive to do. Jerry took his time doing this two-day drive and listened to two audiobooks. Many thoughts were running through his mind about his life and the women in it doing this drive.

After checking into a motel near Pensacola, he had a bite to eat and watched TV before he called it an early night.

The following morning Jerry drove around the area to become familiar with it. He would have liked to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum at the Naval Air Station, but access was limited to specific people, and he did not qualify. He did make a phone call to this Naval Air Station asking where he could post an ad for a part-time salesperson. He thought a retired military person might want to supplement their military pension.

His phone calls resulted in being transferred to various individuals. He was able to make contact with a lady who took his information and said she knew of two places where to post his employment ad. Jerry thanked her for doing this. This lady must have known where to post his ad, as Jerry received four phone calls the following day.

Jerry did phone interviews and discussed what this sales position entailed. That resulted in Jerry meeting with Ralph Grant and Marcia Jackson, whom he hired. Ralph said he would continue to live in the Pensacola area, and Marcia said she was relocating to Tallahassee. Jerry gave them both an explanation of what was involved in the selling of shoes as well as the compensation they would receive for doing it. He took both of them to a retail store and showed them how to do this selling.

Having hired two people, Jerry was on his way, heading east toward Jacksonville.

He had considered purchasing property in this Florida panhandle area but decided not to do it. Owning property in this area troubled him for a few reasons. He would admit that he liked this portion of Florida but thought there was one disadvantage in owning property here. The area was subject to visits from frequent hurricanes. It was also that the temperature during the winter months was not as warm as he would like it to be.

Jacksonville and its surrounding area were impressive. It looked to him that it was a mixture of both rural and metropolitan living. He took an immediate liking to the area even though the winter temperatures here were not as warm as he would want it to be. There was exposure to hurricane damage, but to his knowledge, hurricanes did not visit this area as frequently as they visited the panhandle area.

With it working for him in Pensacola, he phoned the Mayport Naval Station asking where he could place an employment ad. It was a repeat of what had happened in Pensacola, with his phone calls transferred till he found someone who knew where to post his ad. This similarity continued because the next day, he received a phone call from Kevin Dameron, who said he was interested in a sales position.

Jerry met with Kevin and was a little surprised. Kevin was not a twenty-year veteran who was retiring. He was a young man who said that after serving four years, he decided not to make the Navy a career. Kevin liked that his sales commissions were unlimited and his compensation would depend on his sales performance. He understood there would be some time before the amount of his sales would result in his compensation being considered a living wage. He said his fiancée is a teacher and receives an adequate salary for them to live until his salary increases.

Kevin reminded Jerry about himself when he started to sell shoes. Jerry hired Kevin and trained him. He thought that if Kevin continued to have a positive attitude, he would be a success. With that taken care of, Jerry took his time to see a few sites on the drive down to Fort Lauderdale for his ten-day cruise.

The process of boarding this cruise ship followed along the lines of his prior cruise. Checking in, posing for a picture, getting an ID card, and being told his cabin would not be available till two was a mirror image of the last cruise. So were the many passengers in the one open restaurant who were chowing down.

Jerry walked around the ship to familiarize himself and stopped for a drink. He was a little anxious to see his cabin. This ship offered single passengers a cabin with a porthole for a twenty percent single supplement. Jerry thought he would feel claustrophobic in an inside cabin with no porthole. He did not expect much, and as it turned out, he was not disappointed. The view through the porthole was obstructed, and the cabin was a little noisy since it was at the back of the ship. Despite these things, he thought it was better than an inside cabin.

Dining in one of the two main dining rooms was any-time dining, with the other being more formal. Jerry followed what he had done on his prior cruise by having a late dinner. He visited the lounges and the casino to see the action at these locations. Having a drink and watching the dancers at the nightclub, he did notice a few good-looking women.

He confirmed that observation the following morning by looking at the posted pictures of the passengers boarding the ship. The photos indicated there were single and attractive women on board. On average, these women were slightly older than women on the summer cruise.

The first day of this cruise was a day at sea. A large number of the passengers were in their swimsuits and gathered around the swimming pool.

Jerry went to the cruise orientation lecture. This lecture was similar to the one on his first cruise in that it was one big sales pitch. Later in the afternoon, he found a lounge chair in a shady area to read a book. He was resting up for a night of dancing that he would do after watching the evening entertainment in the main auditorium.

After dinner and watching the big production show, he went to the “Crow’s Nest Nightclub.” There was a good-sized group of people here, with the people on the dance floor being mostly women. He was content to sit at a small table and watch the dancers, some of whom were very good.

“Do you dance?” he heard someone ask.

Looking up, he saw it was a dark-haired lady who was asking him that question.

“I do, I do,” he said as he stood.

He danced to a medium-tempo song with this lady but did not go all out in dancing. He noticed by the expression on her face that this lady was surprised Jerry was a good dancer. In between songs, they introduced themselves to each other. She said her name was Lauren Kirby, and she was from Columbia, South Carolina.

After dancing to another song, she asked Jerry to join her and her friend Brenda Pilot, at the table Brenda was sitting at. Brenda was a full-figure lady who had short blond hair. He enjoyed talking to both ladies as he found their southern drawl to be pleasant on the ears. They both worked at a bank and said this was their second cruise. The conversation centered on the cruise ship going in and coming out of the Panama Canal. They were excited to watch this transit, which was why they selected this cruise.