Baltimore? She's crazy as hell!

After I returned from Germany, I reunited with my high school sweetheart and we planned to get married before I began college in 1957. One day, as we sat down with my future mother-in-law, Doris, to discuss the wedding, we were told something that was hilarious to us.

Earlier that day, Doris had made her weekly trip to her favorite Gypsy fortune teller. The fortune teller said to her: "I see that you will be taking a long trip in the future to visit your daughter and her new baby in Baltimore, Maryland."

When we heard this, my future bride and I laughed until our sides hurt. What a ridiculous prediction!

However, four years later, in October 1961, that ridiculous prediction came true.

Let me tell you the steps that took place to get us to Baltimore.

I attended Boston University until June 1960, when I received a degree. Jobs with the National Security Agency and the Secret Service did not work out, but since I still wanted to work for the Federal Government, I decided to take the Federal Service Entrance Examination. I received several job offers. The two that sounded promising were both in Maryland.

One was as a Budget Analyst at someplace called Indian Head. We asked my wife's uncle what that area was like because he had been stationed there during World War II. He said that it was a "hellhole" stuck out in the middle of nowhere. I turned the job down.

The other job was as a Claims Authorizer for the Social Security Administration in Baltimore. The Social Security Act had been amended recently and millions of disabled people would now be eligible to receive monthly benefits. They needed lawyer types to examine benefit applications to make sure that the applicants were truly eligible according to the amended law.

Unfortunately, lawyers in the Baltimore area did not want to take pay cuts to go to work for the Federal Government. Social Security then changed the requirements so that people with investigative experience could qualify for the jobs, and shifted their personnel search to New England, which was having some unemployment problems. Since I had done some credit investigation work while attending college, I met their new requirements.

I decided to try the job at Social Security and was interviewed in Boston by two recruiters. Only two questions were asked at the interview:

Question: "What do you think of the Orioles?" Answer: "I like them."

Question: "What do you think of the Colts?" Answer: "I like them too."

(I'm ashamed to admit that I thought they were talking about birds and horses.)

The recruiters slapped me on the back and welcomed me to the Social Security Administration team. Now, we had to get a map and figure out how to get to Baltimore in our ailing Ford, and with very little available cash.
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