“Sure, but the flight has landed so you better talk fast,” was Jim Davis’ response when I asked if I could interview him for my blog. Good thing that I can, in fact, talk pretty quickly. I settled in to the seat next to him poised with my paper and pen, ready for the challenge.
Jim was at the airport on business. This explains the official looking badge he wore around his neck. He was there to pick up two Korean businessmen who work for a company called MOBIS that manufactures auto parts. Jim is the marketing manager for a company called ARC automotive, which manufactures airbag inflators, and he is no stranger to airport pickups like this one, telling me that he picks people up on business calls a few times a year. This time, his guests would not be staying long; they were set to fly out the next day.
Jim tells me that he’s been working in the automotive manufacturing business for many years, and his job has sent him many places across the world: Korea, Japan, China, Germany, Mexico and all over the U.S. While he enjoyed his travels for the most part, he said that China was the most difficult thing to adapt to but not because of culture.
“There was just a lot of red tape to get through,” said Jim, explaining that simply entering the country required a lot of previous preparation.
His favorite place he has visited, however, was not on a business trip. In fact, it is not even outside of the United States; Hawaii, he told me, is his favorite destination. He goes on to describe it as “the most beautiful place you’ll ever see,” and by the way he spoke about the island, I was inclined to believe him. In January, he will be escaping the Tennessee winter and visiting his favorite place once again with his wife, though his wife isn’t as fanatic.
“She doesn’t like the long plane ride,” he said.
Despite the many places Jim has seen, he still calls Tennessee home and has for the majority of his life. He grew up in the area, first attending South Doyle High School and later the University of Tennessee and Tusculum College. Aside from a few years living in Alabama, his home has always been in Tennessee. Since college, he has been working in automotive manufacturing. Though it wasn’t his original plan, he found that he enjoyed the job and has been working his way up ever since.
At this point, Jim has told me quite a bit about himself, but I’m wondering if he was lying about the plane having landed. And I may have concluded just that had he not seemed a bit concerned as well. We had been talking for at least ten or fifteen minutes, and there was still no sign of his guests. His eyes searched the incoming arrivals then turned to me.
“I still don’t see any Koreans,” he said. I took this as permission to continue on with my interview.
At this point, I had heard overarching stories about Jim’s life and travels, but I wanted to know specifics. I asked him if he had ever found himself in a particularly odd situation while away on business. The question caught him off guard, and he told me he would need a minute to think.
After a brief moment, he recalled a time that he had lost a rental car in a parking garage in St. Louis. He was there on business and had parked the car, but he forgot to pay attention to where. While this may seem like nothing a few clicks of the unlock button wouldn’t solve, Jim informed me this was before the luxury of key clickers. Armed with only the car key and license plate number, he and his business partner scoured the lot in search of the lost car. But the story has a happy ending, and they were thankfully able to locate the car.
But this story wasn’t the only one that came to him.
“There was one time I stole a car,” remarked Jim.
All I could do was stare for a moment, shocked by his blunt statement. Surely this kind, grey haired man in front of me wasn’t a thief. So what was the story then? Thankfully, Jim’s explanation eased any concern.
Once again, the trouble began with a rental car. One evening, Jim had an out of town business dinner at a restaurant with valet parking, which he took advantage of. However, the dinner lasted longer than expected, and when they left, the valet was closed. Jim wasn’t hindered by this and simply grabbed the keys to a white Cadillac that he assumed belonged to his rental car.
The next morning his boss noticed a crack in the windshield and asked when it had happened, but Jim insisted he hadn’t cracked the windshield. After further inspecting the car, it became clear that it was not their rental. Slowly the realization settled that either he or the owner of the car they were sitting in must have taken the wrong keys the night before. Luckily, his company was able to sort out the mess and return the cars to their respective owners.
As he finished his story, Jim spotted his guests at long last. He hopped up to greet them as I thanked for his time. Given our entertaining conversations, I was sad to see him go. I watched them head out, shocked by how willing this stranger was to open up to me. Though Jim had no reason to divulge stories about his travels, his work or his mishaps, he opened up to me like an old friend. In this moment, I recognized the potential for this project, and my initial fear began to fade.