That is about my father, who died a few years in the past. He retired from the Navy and went into protection contracting as a senior engineer. The workplace safety coverage was that each one guests — regardless of in the event that they have been oh, say, high-ranking navy officers in uniform who’d been displaying up for weeks at a time — needed to register. Cheap, proper?
My father’s safety clearance was up for renewal someday within the Nineteen Eighties so he needed to have the same old FBI interview. Sadly the pinnacle admin was out of the workplace on the time The Smallest FBI Agent within the World confirmed up.
This idjit (in his twenties) berated the junior admin protecting the reception desk — till she started crying — about how HE was with the FBI and HE didn’t HAVE to register as a result of HE WAS A FEDERAL AGENT and who was SHE to query HIM. She held the road and made him register by her tears.
My father was a mustang. He’d lastly (per his telling) managed to show the younger self-important engineers (all males the identical age because the FBI agent), “In the event you mistreat different workers — particularly our admins, who we can’t operate with out — since you suppose you’re extra essential, you should have ME to take care of. You’ll not prefer it.”
So he received indignant after somebody had the sense to run down the corridor and poke their head into his workplace with “Um, the FBI agent right here for you simply made the junior admin CRY…” He was barely civil to stated FBI agent, giving bored-sounding “uh-huh, yeah, yeah, no, yeah” solutions and giving off all of the “You annoy me, go away” vibes he may. Disrespect for disrespect, principally.
“YOU should not TAKING this SERIOUSLY,” The Smallest FBI Agent within the World reprimanded him. “It is a SECURITY CLEARANCE INVESTIGATION. Do you UNDERSTAND that?”
My father leaned ahead and stated coldly, “Younger man, I’m a retired Naval officer. I’ve held safety clearances *increased* than this for longer than you could have been *alive*. I can recite these questions by coronary heart. Let’s get this crap over with.”
“I can have your safety clearance PULLED for this DISRESPECT to an FBI AGENT!”
“Go. Forward.”
“Um…what did you simply say?”
“I stated Go. Forward. Tremendous-Sekrit Undertaking goes to sea trials within the close to future and I — as a retired Naval officer and engineer — am the designated contractor’s technical consultant going with it. You go forward and pull my clearance and clarify why to the U.S. Navy, son. You’ll be explaining it to admirals by the point you’re by. I don’t suppose your bosses or your bosses’ bosses over on the FBI will like that.”
My father apparently leaned again in his chair and grinned his most infuriating grin. He knew he was the senior technical knowledgeable on the venture, he knew the Navy would again him/the agency due to that and his inventory of favors he may name in, and he knew the clock was ticking to sea trials. Plus, he was indignant at having his workers mistreated.
As quickly because the Smallest FBI Agent within the World stomped out of the premises, my father apologized profusely to the whole admin workers and gave the junior admin a money bonus for hazardous obligation, as he put it, out of his personal pockets.
Then the idjit agent really DID attempt to pull his clearance for not being “sufficiently respectful of the FBI.” My father stood on his ideas and refused to apologize to the idjit agent regardless of how a lot strain the FBI placed on. His refusal set off an uproar between the FBI, the US Navy, and the engineering agency that reverberated all the best way to DC.
Lastly, after the FBI realized my father was lethal critical and was prepared to tank his complete profession (no safety clearance = no job) and stall a Tremendous-Sekrit Undertaking as a result of the Smallest FBI Agent within the World had made a receptionist cry, an settlement was brokered to ship one other agent to do the interview over once more.
The top admin was protecting the reception desk. A person roughly my father’s age (on the time mid-fifties) confirmed up, greeted her pleasantly, confirmed his FBI credentials, signed in with out grievance, and was walked to my father’s workplace.
The agent opened with a nice “Ah, I perceive you have been Navy? I used to be Military, let’s not speak about The Recreation…” and so they chit-chatted about their respective service earlier than a scrupulously well mannered interview was carried out on each side.
On the finish, the agent paused. “Sir? I FOUGHT to do that interview as a result of I REALLY wished to fulfill you. There have been MULTIPLE volunteers who wished to do it.”
“Actually? Why?”
The agent grinned. “As a result of you could have a fan membership in [city a long drive away] FBI discipline workplace. NONE of us like that little jerk and you set him in his PLACE in a method we COULDN’T! An ADMIRAL was calling our workplace wanting him FIRED!”
My father began laughing. “Feels like your younger man discovered a lesson, now didn’t he?”
“Oh sure. And we on the [city] FBI discipline workplace are very GRATEFUL to you for it. There might be no downside expediting the renewal of your clearance and we are going to NOT have a repeat of this conduct by an FBI agent out of OUR discipline workplace. I promise you that.”
Ceaselessly after (effectively, till my father retired), the FBI brokers who got here to do clearance renewal interviews have been all very well mannered and respectful to the admin workers regardless of how previous or younger they have been. And at all times signed in with out grievance.