I met Tony Baloni while working on an audit, up north in the Chicago area. I had a question about accounts receivable, and one of his coworkers pushed him off on me. As I approached the man's cubicle, I wasn't struck by anything out of the ordinary, and yet, I was about to meet a man so full of personality, one can hardly write the words.
When I spoke his name, Tony didn't even look up. He continued to talk to me with his back facing me for several moments. When he found out what I wanted, he acknowledged it with the slightest of phrases, and then proceeded to calmly finish the task he was working on before proceeding to track down my papers.
Tony's cube was more the cube of a college professor than an accountant. He had binders and books stacked everywhere, but there was a distinct feeling of oranization. As he got to work quickly and without hesitation, I noticed each binder, carefully labelled in bright colorful font. Added to the Far Side comic strips on his wall, I deduced that this was a man full of personality - although one would have to go far to find how far that personality reached.
Turning back to me, Tony explained the documents he was about to give me with a voice that sounded as though it belonged in a 1960's spy drama. To the point. That seemed to be the way he ran his life.
I'm sure when I left, he got back to work, barely remembering that I had been there. And yet, I also am sure that if I showed up again, he would remember the encounter as well as I did.
Tony Baloni - quite a character. :)
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