When I was first married and moved to the Palm Springs area, I worked for a Public Relations agency.
We were housed in a small building named for Bob Hope on a hospital campus that has President Eisenhower’s name. A number of rich and famous were associated with the hospital including Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope.
One of the accounts we worked on was the Bob Hope Classic, a golf tournament that raised millions for local charities.
The first year I was working the Classic, I answered the phone and got a request from Rick Dee’s secretary that he’d like to play in the tournament. At the time, Rick Dees was a local Los Angeles DJ. It was before he went national. I had moved from Washington state and never heard of him. I told the woman on the other end of the phone, “No.”
We were well into organizing the tournament and I didn’t think we could allow more players.
Next, I got a call from Rick Dees himself. I told him no. He called back two more times and I hung up on him!
One of my co-workers overheard and asked, “Who were you talking to?”
“Some guy named Rick Dees. He wants to play in the Classic and he called me three times!”
“You hung up on Rick Dees?”
The boss immediately found Rick Dees number and called him back and apologized. Guess what? He was allowed to play in the tournament.
Fast forward six or seven years, and I was at the Classic with my husband, who had our one- year-old son on his shoulders. We walked along the golf course and I spotted Rick Dees.
I walked up to him and said “I’m the woman who hung up on you years ago.”
He laughed and said he remembered. My husband asked for his autograph. Rick Dees was friendly and signed my son’s baseball cap.
What are some of your funny memories during your early working years?
