than rattlesnake . My first debtor client , a trucking company , owned five tractors and trailers all secured by different lenders . When tractors broke down , my client moved engines from one tractor to another to keep on trucking . When I advised him he couldn ’ t do that , he didn ’ t seem to care . My next debtor case was a bus company called Trans Texas Coaches . Trans Texas operated the Continental Trailways bus line from Presidio , Texas to Enid , Oklahoma . When tires went flat , Trans Texas switched tires from one bus to another to keep the wheels moving . When challenged about the propriety of swapping tires , my client told me to stick to bankruptcy and he would drive the bus . While roguish and rascalish , their conduct was not as dangerous as a rattlesnake . Neither case worked out well and the rattlesnakes would come later .
Overtime I learned in representing lenders and debtors , large and small , that some folks just fell on hard times . When debtors walk into our office , they are looking for help and guidance ; creditors are the same . It ’ s how we assist them and how they react and persevere in hard times that show us their true character . Equally important is how we respect each and every debtor before we label them Rogues , Rascals and Rattlesnakes .
During my clerkship in Lubbock , I never met the Roommate in person . He was calling from his office in Austin or Washington , D . C . I knew who he was and he was easily recognizable and memorable for anyone who grew up in Texas . He had been on the TV news and in newspapers for years . My mother once described him as the most handsome man in Texas .
It was a few years later when I first saw the Roommate in person . I didn ’ t recognize him immediately . A man wearing a nice business suit and black cowboy boots was sitting on a bench outside the Bankruptcy Court on the third floor of the old federal courthouse in San Antonio . His Stetson was carefully placed upside down on the bench next to him . The man was leaned over with his face in his hands , out of sadness I supposed . When he raised his head I realized who it was immediately . His silver hair caught the sun light and came through the window in the hallway and shined . That same window looks out over the Alamo where so many Texas legends died . I had flown to San Antonio for a hearing in the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas ( the Western District of Texas , although larger than most states only had two bankruptcy judges at the time , both sitting in San Antonio ; six hundred miles away from El Paso .
I knew why the Roommate was there , his
bankruptcy was big news in Texas . The Roommate was there for a hearing in his personal Chapter 7 . I knew this day must be a challenging day for such an iconic Texan , but much less challenging than that sad day in Dallas in November 1963 when the Roommate and President Kennedy were the victims of an assassin ’ s bullets .
After a few moments , however , I determined that despite my reservations I would go over and introduce myself .
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