I met Police Officer W. Lewis at the San Francisco International Airport on July 14, 2012. He was patrolling the departure area riding a Segway. I told him “Hi Officer, that’s cool”. He stopped and we chatted for a while. Not for a while, but for a full two hours. We stood in the middle of the hallway and at least two dozen lost passengers stopped and asked for our help. I told Officer Lewis we might as well set-up an information counter there.
Our topics started with the Segway, went to his lovelife and daughter, and ended with his cows.
I have seen many of this Segways in China at the Canton Fair. If I am not mistaken, the indicative selling prices were around US$700 to a thousand. Officer Lewis told me the Segway is about $8,000 in the US and battery alone costs $800. Instead of patrolling on foot, his job is made easier by this cool gadget.
I am inspired by his stories most especially how he lifted himself up from poverty. We all love rags to riches stories because they give us hope and inspiration.
I forgot to ask him how I should properly address him. But through-out our conversations, I addressed him Officer Lewis and he never corrected me so I guess I would refer to him here as that.
He was born to poverty somewhere in Texas (I think). He’s American and his great grandfather had some foreign blood, I forgot what.
He married a childhood sweetheart but they only stayed together for three short years because of money problems. That short-lived marriage though was blessed with a beautiful daughter that Officer Lewis adores.
He worked for the US Military flying helicopters and training pilots. He also became a policeman assigned for 19 years in Oakland, California. All those years, he remained very frugal. He invested all his income to real estate starting in the 60s when real estate was still cheap. He put his salaries in the payment of his real estate mortgages. All in all, he was able to accumulate real estate properties across America including a big cattle farm 3 hours away from San Francisco. He also owns a vacation house in Arizona about 100 miles from the Grand Canyon. Officer Lewis is a multi-millionaire in dollars judging from the number of houses he has accumulated, all those are already fully paid since he acquired them long long time ago. Those houses are self-liquidating since they are also being rented-out.
Officer Lewis shared his blessings with his parents and siblings.
His one and only child is 27 years old and lives in the Virgin Islands. She got married to an Italian model 4 months ago whom she met also while doing some modeling. She moved to the Virgin Islands when she was 21 and three years later she was crowned Miss Virgin Islands and competed in the Miss America beauty pagent. Officer Lewis is very tall and I could only guess that his daughter must be 5’11.
He bought a brand-new 4 bedroom house in Stockton and rented this out to a couple with little children who lived there for 2 years. One day, when he went to cut the grass, he noticed that the tenants were not there. He went back after two weeks and the car that was parked on the driveway looked abandoned. He knocked on the door and there was no answer. He tried calling them but no response. He used his door keys to enter the house.
He found the house full of furniture, new clothes and shoes with tag prices still attached were piled up waist high in the garage. Toys and clothes were still there, the washer, drier, everything, except for the people who lived there. He found one room had some mysterious substance stuck on the wall. The tenants looked like they were cooking some kind of chemicals or drugs.
It took Officer Lewis about a month before he was able to secure a legal permit to take over his property.
He emptied the house with all the furniture, decors and personal effects. He loaded them into a truck and brought them to the garbage site. In the 30 days he’s at the house doing some restoration work, the former tenants never appeared and no one came looking for them. That happened many years ago and to this day, Officer Lewis never found out what happened to the family who just disappeared. He also did not find any record of those persons. The names given to him did not exist in public records.
A true blue cowboy takes care of his cattle ranch. it’s over a hundred acres with hundreds of cows. Upon reaching a certain weight, those cows are brought to an auction place where they are sold. Those are bought by wholesalers who supply to restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, etc.
Officer Lewis is planning to retire before the end of 2013. He wants to divide his time traveling to other countries, spending peaceful moments in his 1 acre Arizona rest house and staying at his cattle ranch caring for his cows that are his cash cow.
Next time Edmund and I visit California, I am going to call Officer Lewis so we could attend the cow auction. It would be an exciting experience.
