Decades later, childhood friends reunited in a cafeteria line… and other stories from a former writer

Interviewer: Could you explain any other stories from your job?

Peggy: Sure.

 So this is a story about a man who was retiring from Xerox..

He was very active in the civil rights movement. It was a wonderful interview because he had all these stories. He was the first affirmative action executive at Xerox.

He was on the verge of retiring, and that's why we did this story, because he was very special.

When I say business, I was a writer and editor and executive for businesses. It’s a lot more complicated, a lot more rewarding, than dry business topics. We also put out magazines, newsletters, video programs.

So I worked for Xerox as a writer and editor for nine years. Then they transferred me to Connecticut. When I started working for American Express, we had a video program. This is all videotape — which you probably don't even know what that is. But this was before digital cameras. Way back when. But we would go around to different parts of the company and different countries doing video stories.

So one of the most moving stories was about two older women who were standing in in the cafeteria line and who got to talking. You know, trading stories, and they were Jewish. And the more they talked, the more they realized that they were childhood friends who were separated during the Holocaust.

Interviewer: Wow. You have an incredible story.

Peggy: You know, now, it's a very tough time, not just for the world. It's very disturbing to me.