Lunken Airfield
Two-way Radio
From the time I was 15 until I was 22, I worked for a high end limo company. It was a family business, so I fell into it, eventually becoming the go-fer plus everything else. We used to pick people up down at Lunken all the time. We drove all those who came in for Riverbend shows and all other big venues. Summers, I was down at Riverbend almost every night. Really, it was like a second home to me. During the day, I'd be down there taking care of business in the offices. At night, I'd be wearing some shiny outfit that usually involved a bodysuit, hanging out in the Pit or backstage or whatever, wherever I was needed. I'm surprised that I could do my job with all of the pure wildness.
From the time I was 15 until I was 22, I worked for a high end limo company. It was a family business, so I fell into it, eventually becoming the go-fer plus everything else. We used to pick people up down at Lunken all the time. We drove all those who came in for Riverbend shows and all other big venues. Summers, I was down at Riverbend almost every night. Really, it was like a second home to me. During the day, I'd be down there taking care of business in the offices. At night, I'd be wearing some shiny outfit that usually involved a bodysuit, hanging out in the Pit or backstage or whatever, wherever I was needed. I'm surprised that I could do my job with all of the pure wildness.
Yes, some nights were a mess. And some were absolutely...missing.
We also drove comedians, businessmen/women, actors, you name it. Everybody who was anybody took limos in those days. There was no Uber. Sometimes they used a whole fleet plus 15-passenger vans for a tour stop.
Every now and then, I'd get some interesting phone calls. At that time, no one had cells, so we used land lines, car phones, and two-way radios, which meant that everyone in all the cars plus everyone in the office could hear everything that was going on at all times, which was good, bad, and hilarious. Once, one famous group cussed me out on the radio because the driver got lost. I listened, laughed, got the driver back on track, and continued working. My boss shrugged and continued working. We let it all roll. We had to. Another famous heavy metal group called me at the office and had me cracking up so hard I got nothing done. Some other hard rockers, same thing. One comedian called me just to talk. I never knew.
It was a fun job, but I was on call all the time (yes, pager), and it was stressful. Fast-paced, let me tell you. I'd get paged for stuff like this: Tell the drivers to pick up firm hold hairspray for #11, the 8 passenger, 6 bottles of orange juice with no pulp for #10, a bottle of Beam for #12, and glitter and Camel nonfilters for #6. Make sure to have driver put the "just married sign" on the car where that small dent is so the clients don't see it. Thanks.
Since I was so young when I started, I didn't really know any other job. Every single weekend, I'd get knots in my stomach, trying to keep track of everything. I also didn't care much about being backstage or whatnot; I was so young, it never occurred to me that my job was strange. Mainly I hung out with the chauffeurs, who were awesome. Around forty of them.
When I think about it now, I realize how odd it was. We did have some good times. I'd tell some stories, but I'm like the chauffeurs...we did our jobs, and the rest was quiet. I will say this: I'm lucky to be here, writing to you.
Other than that, what goes on behind the partition stays there,
C.A. MacConnell
