A meeting took place far from my Tobacco Road, when I was 8 years old. It impacted my life 28 years later. THE PIPEFITTER AND THE SHEIK[i] In 1947 an oil field pipefitter was in the lobby of the Shepheard Hotel in Cairo. He was waiting for a flight to the US, but his earliest booking was several days away. He was wearing cowboy boots. A man in Arab dress approached him and said, “Are you a Texas oilman?” The pipefitter said, “Yes I am a Texas oil man.” (He was a Texan and he did work in the ‘oil patch.’) The Arab represented the ruler of Kuwait, and the King (Sheik) was interested in granting a concession to explore and develop an oil field in his country. The King did not want to deal with major oil companies, but rather with an ‘independent American operation.’ “Would the Texas oil man consent to fly back to Kuwait and discuss the matter with the King?”
Great story!
Amazing