Chapter 2

Since first grade everybody calls me Big Mac. Not because I'm big, but because of my name, John Biggs McDonald.

First day of school, the first grade teacher calls on me and everybody starts laughing, so she asked," What's so funny?" "He's a Big Mac" said one of the girls, and that was it.

Nowadays, even my parents call me Big Mac or Mac.

I'm 6" 1 and weight around 200lbs, have black hair, brown eyes, and looks are around average, not supermodel looks but not disgusting, also. I'm your average Joe.

My parents were born in the same area they live in now. My father worked for Budweiser for 35 years, and just retired, and my mother still works in the supermarket two blocks down. It's what you'll call average family. I don't have any brothers or sisters, I guess just having me was enough.

All through school I was your regular student, but lazy. I only studied enough to pass. More is a waste of brain cells. In high school, I joined the track team because the girls always noticed the jock. I was no jock, but I could run quiet fast, so I figured that was an easy way of getting girls. I started running the mile, and to everybody's surprise, specially my own, I was quiet good at it. I would win the school tournaments and go to the state finals and win a third place, in my first year. After that I didn't improve much. In school I still was the fastest, but on state I got worse results over the next years.

I got a lot of girlfriends and girl friends and at this point I'd like to point out Rebecca.She was cute brunette that lived a few streets away from my parents. We dated and fooled around for a while. I moved to other pastures but stayed good friends with Rebecca. She had a little sister called Anna.

I finished high school in the middle of the class and got accepted in a couple of Universities, but I hadn't decided what to study. Around this time my mother got sick, and the money was a bit short, so I could only go to the local college, and probably get a part time job, because my parents couldn't afford send me to a University.

My uncle, my mom's brother, came to visit my parents and they told him my problems, going to the University, the part time job and not knowing what to study. He had the perfect solution for my problems: join the Navy.

For Comd. Paul McDonald of the USN, joining the Navy was always a good solution to anybody's problems. My uncle is the commander of a destroyer on the Atlantic fleet. He said that I could get a two year commission and learn some basic skills for a future job. And I could see the world. After the commission was over, I could go for another, or get out and still go to University.

I discussed it with my parents, and they didn't like that much, but under the circumstances it was a good solution. They said I could learn some trade that would help in the future.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided to join the Navy.

My uncle took me to the recruiting office to sign up to be a sailor. I did a bunch of exams, and after a few months physical training I was transferred to Norfolk, VA, to the HQ of the Atlantic fleet. Because of the tests I had taken earlier, somebody thought I was good with numbers and organizing things, I ended up in a basement, being part of the financial management and comptroller of the Atlantic Fleet. Basically, we were the accountants of the Navy. I spend the rest of my time there, and actually learned quiet a lot.

After spending two years there, it was enough for me, so I decided to get out. The part where you see the world was not for me, because I was stuck in the HQ. I was only aboard ships twice, and that was because some guys I knew took me for a tour. So I wasn't much of a sailor, more of a paper puncher.

My parents were happy to have me around again. My mother's health problems were gone, so they said they would help me during college if I wanted to go.

I decided to go and study harder, to get better options in the future. I didn't want to be stuck in a basement for life. So I was a student again.

It was on the second day there that I saw her. Anna, my future wife. She was the kid sister of Rebecca, my high school girlfriend. She was two years younger than me, but because I had been away, we were now in the same class. She was also studying to be an accountant. We talked for a while and had lunch that day and the next. And before you knew it we were a couple. Our relationship blossomed, and by the third year we were planning the wedding.

I graduated with honors, and got a job in a small firm in Newark, NJ. She got a job in nearby Rahway. We got married that summer, moved in to a small apartment in Port Elizabeth NJ, and started our married life.

About a year later. we were at my parents house, when an old friend of my fathers showed up. He works in a big consultancy firm in New York as CFO. At the time I was doing OK, having my own accounts, office and secretary. We talked for a while he and asked how my job was going, the pay, and if I was happy there. I said that for now I was happy, but if I wanted to move up, I would have to change companies. The one I worked for was small and didn't have many promotion opportunities.