askedfor,andhedidn’thesitatetotellthemso.Today,
we’d diagnose him as having Oppositional Defiant
Disorder. In the 1970s, they just thought he was trouble.
Thetwopersonas—thesalesmanandthedefiantpainin
theneck—seemedtocomefromthesameplace.Iasked
Thomaswhathisspecialtechniqueforsaleswasasakid.
Hesaid he didn’thaveany. It wassimplythat“Iwas
willingto be rejected.That’swhat allows youto be a
goodsalesperson.Youhavetobewillingtoberejected.”
It wasa traitthat lethimpersist until hegot what he
wanted and avoid whatever he didn’t want.
Foralongtime,though,hedidn’tknowwhathewanted.
He had grown up in thenext county over from New
Berlin,inavalleyoutsidethetownofNichols.Hisfather
had been a factory worker, his mother a telephone
operator. Neither had gone to college, and no one
expectedBillThomastogoeither.Ashecametotheend
ofhighschool,hewasontracktojoinauniontraining
program.Butachanceconversationwithafriend’solder
brotherwhowasvisitinghomefromcollegeandtoldhim
aboutthebeer,thegirls,andthegoodtimesmadehim
rethink.
Heenrolled ina nearbystate college,SUNYCortland.
There,something ignited him.Perhapsit wasthehigh
schoolteacherwhopredictedasheleftthathe’dbeback
intownpumpinggasbeforeChristmas.Whateveritwas,
hesucceededfarbeyondanyone’sexpectation,chewing
throughthecurriculum,holdingontoa4.0gradepoint
average,andbecomingstudentbodypresidentagain.He
hadgoneinthinkinghemightbecomeagymteacher,but
inbiologyclasshebeganthinkingthatmaybemedicine