Michael Simmons:  

In 2002 I was working as Executive Vice President of the Log House Builders Association of North America in Monroe, Washington. There was a guest at the Association ranch, Don Cameron, who was proficient in eight languages and had been involved in international trade for some thirty years. I found him to be a very knowledgeable and interesting individual. We soon became close friends and he indicated he owned 245 hectares in Chile upon which he wanted to build a log home. He then offered me a job in South America investigating the possibilities of log home building and/or export from South America to the United States and other countries. I immediately accepted. It was December of 2002 and summer in Chile. I was looking forward to getting away from the short days and the cold, wet winter in the Pacific Northwest. Don was a man who was awarded a full scholarship to Louisiana State University. He had paid the entire scholarship amount back by the time he graduated! I knew this was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. He owned a company, Benchmark Global Trading, located in Cypress, a free trade zone. Through there he would trade commodities from Latin America internationally. The commodities included: iron ore, hand carved doors, seafood and building materials. The venues we traveled to included: extreme Northern and Southern Chile, Argentina and Venezuela Business is carried out differently in Chile, courtesy and greeting of each individual separately is protocol. Business meetings often take place in-between lunch, coffee and casual conversation. It is acceptable to be late. As important as the business itself is the degree of politeness and interest in individual welfare. Meetings can take hours. The "best deal" is still the goal but it is not happening in what Americans would consider the most efficient means in any case. Learning and accepting that there are different ways to approach business was a key part of my time in Latin America. It was a good cure for ethnocentrism. Don and I worked well with each other. His company motto was "Have fun, make money." One day an iron-ore sample arrived via mail at our office. We took a taxi to the eastern limits of Santiago de Chile and were let off at an assay company. We were directed to the proper office. As we entered the "jefe" (boss) looked at us suspiciously, two gringos, me carrying this box that rattled as I awkwardly tried to open it. "What could you possibly want?" she stated. "Langosta termador!" (lobster thermador!) Don replied. "Why is that?" she said. "Because when we walked in here, you acted like we were a couple of lobsters!" We all laughed, she got scissors out to help me open the box which I was still fumbling with. When the box was opened and she viewed the contents her mouth dropped wide open and she exclaimed "this is some of the richest iron-ore I have ever seen in Chile! I will have it processed for you immediately! Don and I grinned and we all laughed again. In spring of 2005 Don traveled to Europe to put a deal together with eleven oil ministers and three bankers. All of our monetary assets were on the line. He was staying in the Paris Opera Hotel. On April 15th, the hotel caught fire in the middle of the night and Don lost his life. Don was like a father to me. We had come to respect and love each other. He had kept me safe in dangerous places such as Caracas, Venezuela. Everything he said to me seemed to be uplifting and positive. I can hear his voice echo today "Mikey, that was above and beyond the call of duty." He was a mentor who was just beginning to share all he knew. I was thrilled and genuinely happy in my work and travels and now he had died a horrible death. I was devastated. I felt hopeless and powerless. I doubted there would be anyway to recover from this loss. I felt as if I had nothing left; however. What I did have in November of 2005 was my tree service equipment that was in storage in Seattle and the understanding that people in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and parts of Alabama needed help as a result of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. With no idea how I would afford to get there I loaded my stump grinder into the back of a 1979 Chevrolet pickup truck, hooked up my chipper to the back and hoisted the stump-grinder trailer on the chipper. I then loaded all my tools in the back of the truck. It was a scene quite reminiscent of the Grapes of Wrath. Just about that time my phone rang. It was my uncle John who said "I just had this feeling you needed some help and something was wrong. What is going on?" I explained the whole situation to him and he said "how much money do you need to get there? I will put a check in the mail today." When I arrived in Bayou DesAllemands, Louisiana about twenty-four miles west of New Orleans, I was greeted by Don's son, Charles. His in-laws were my host family and I used my equipment to mitigate their storm damage in trade for rent. Louisiana is an extremely wealthy state. It produces twenty-one percent of our nation's energy. Conglomerately speaking; the Ports of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport are the largest in the world. It is amazing to stand behind a levee along the mighty Mississippi River and look up to see a full-sized ocean freighter pass by. The prolonged growing season allows farmers in the state to produce sugar cane, rice and even two tomato crops annually. Louisiana has a vital tourist industry. It is rich in history, distinct in culture and often seemed as if a separate country to me. I placed an ad in the Times-Picayune New Orleans and went to work immediately cleaning up tree debris and grinding huge oak stumps. I performed my contractual obligations as agreed in a timel...Expand for more