A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? You Decide.

Here's another odd story for you.

Every once in a while I try to meet up with educators who have made an impact on my life. Last night met an old Spanish* teacher, Mr. Saluti*, for dinner. He was one of my favorite teachers in high school and really inspired me with my college decisions/ etc.

To preface, when you're in high school you sometimes forget that your teachers have lives beyond teaching. Oftentimes you cannot think of them beyond the subjects that they teach. It's hard to imagine them doing anything else, really. You also assume that they live a simple life, not cutthroat enough to be in the business world, not motivated enough to be involved in the political scene, and not creative enough to be involved in the arts/writing/creative scene. It's sad, but true. We, as a society, often downplay the intelligence and passion of the common teacher.

That's sort of how I looked at this man-- he was a great teacher with a quick, dry wit and an interesting look at life (probably a 16 on the humor scale), but certainly not someone that I would have considered to have a super-interesting life beyond high school (although I never doubted his intelligence... he's obviously a very smart man).

Let me describe him to you. To meet him on the street, you would chalk him up as an All-American teacher. He's got the Nautica-type look going on coupled with big glasses. Very much "normal."

But deep down inside, I've always known that there was an element of mystery surrounding him. I just had that gut feeling. Why? He moved to the midstate to teach after living in New York City and working in the business world, for one (who does that)? Secondly, I've known the man for years and I still don't know what exactly he did with this pre-teaching corporate job. He mentions it but never really talks about it in detail.

The reporter within me came out last night and I started to probe (which, as you all know, I am PARTICULARLY good at getting people (including complete strangers) to tell me stuff .) I figured that at most, I'd get some story about him being a successful middle-level salesman who got sick of corporate America and wanted to embrace the simple life. What I got out of him was something totally unexpected. Two words:













The Mob.

Yes, I think my All-American mentor used to be (and possibly still is) highly involved in the New York mafia.

How do I know this? I asked him point blank what company he worked for. He chuckled, looked away, and told me that he really couldn't tell me. I would not be defeated. I laughed, and responded, "Well, can you tell me what industry you were involved in, at least?" He laughed again. "Nope." I laughed again and jokingly added as an afterthought, "Well, you can at least tell me that it was legal, right?" He got completely serious and said, "Well, no." But I really can't talk about this anymore.

WTF?!

But he did. He went on to tell me about some of the people he hung out with in New York (both friends and business associates) and all the perks he got as a result of his association with them - complimentary limo access, unlimited free lodging at 5-star resorts all over the world, free premier tickets at local events, front-of-the-line access to the best restaurants in the city, to name a few - totally solidifying what was going through my mind.

In the interest of my safety and the safety of my teacher, this is all I will write on this topic. But I had to mention it because it was truly one of those life moments that made me step back and look at life with renewed interest and a big, "Holy crap." There are so many people with lives that would blow you away (no pun intended) if you really knew what was going on with them-- I think it might be my mission in life to find these people and write about them. An interesting prospect.


*You know the deal... name/gender/school subject concealed for security purposes.