Support Tesla?
In late August and early September 2021 I had the pleasure of joining Paul Veneto of Paulie’s Push on the road for a few days in Connecticut.
Paulie is a former United Airways flight attendant who was normally scheduled to fly on flight 175, but had a scheduled day off on September 11, 2001. He was friends with many of the crew, having flown with them regularly, and was devastated by what had transpired. Years of substance abuse prevented him from honoring them in a way that he believed that they deserved, but Paulie found sobriety a few years before the 20th anniversary, and planned to honor them in a very personally and profound way: pushing an airline beverage cart from Boston’s Logan Airport to Ground Zero, with a scheduled arrival on 9/11.
I was invited to come out and see the effort by my brother, Jeff, whose company designed the GPS tracking software and camera box that would be permanently affixed to the beverage cart, allowing followers to track Paulie’s progress and, if they chose, join him out on the road as he passed through their towns.
I will confess that, early on, I thought the whoole idea was a bit silly. Those airline carts aren’t meant to be pushed on trails and roads, much less across bridges, up and over curbs, and the like. They’re meant to be pushed up and down an aisle for the entirety of their service lives. Would the cart even make it?
More importantly, would Paulie? A retired flight attendant with more than a decade of drug addiction behind him. This wouldn’t be an easy trek. He’d have to push his cart an average of 12 miles each day to make it to Ground Zero by 9/11. Would he arrive on time?
And, even if the cart, did make it, and Paulie as well… would anyone care? Would people watching this cart pass even understand what was behind it? I wasn’t sure.
Turns out, I had no idea…
All I knew was that I was going to get to take a mini-road trip in the Tesla.
That, I could get excited about.
I packed my bags and headed for Connecticut. My exact destination was unknown, since Paulie’s route each day was determined by things like traffic, weather, and his overall stamina. Where would he stop? I wasn’t sure. My brother promised to keep me apprised, and I put in a random town in the area they were in and began the drive.
The weather for most of the trip was amazing. Sunny and beautiful. It would lengthen the amount of time the trip would take, but I decided to head east on the New York State Thruway (Route 90) before connnecting to Route 81 South. There was a Supercharger in Binghamton, and the view is amazing in any kind of weather. It’s like Route 81 is carved out of a valley, with hills of forests on either side. I love, love, love highway driving with a majestic view.
By the time I arrived in Newburgh, NY - for my next supercharging sash - rain clouds had rolled in. Dark, threatening clouds. I stopped at McDonalds to use the rest room, and within minutes the skies had opened and lightning was striking all around us - it even appeared to make a direct hit on the sign for the mall we were located in. I wound up seated in that restaurant watching the show for nearly an hour. Then, just as quickly as it began, the sun returned.
I wondered if we were close enough to Paulie’s route for him to be affected by that storm front. I hoped not.
I’d meet Paulie’s friends and trip co-organizers Steven and Dennis that night at the bar, when they’d treat me and my brother to dinner. They were an interesting pair, and I learned that they had both been friends, and friends with Paulie, since they were seven. Being around them was nonstop fun, and I could tell I was going to really enjoy myself on this trip.
I met Paulie the next morning, and could see almost immediately how this event had come to revolve around him. He has quite a personality, and his excitement for what he was doing shined through at breakfast. I couldn’t stop laughing at the interactions between the three of them. This event was an emormous undertaking, with a small road support crew (Steven, Dennis, Jeff), public relations support back home, a videographer, a social media coordinator, and more. I was happy to learn that there were two carts (the usual cart, with pneumatic wheels, and a backup cart). And the route along the way included fire and police escorts, scheduled stops, and even the possibility of a movie premiere about 9/11. This was more organized than I thought.
Almost immediately Dennis and Steve had asked if I brought any special talents that might help with the effort. I’d done social media for a number of my brother’s events, and worked in social response for AT&T during my professional career. Perhaps I could be useful there?
Later that day I’d been granted access to the Facebook page, and was put to work. I found myself taking photos, posting to Facebook and Instagram, and back in the hotel each evening, responding to messages from the media, emergency responders, and Paulie’s fans. It was fun!
Eventually we slapped some signage on the Tesla. That, I suppose, made it official.
A highlight was when the fire department sort of corralled us into the Paulie Parade, and we spent most of the day riding in the processional with nearly a dozen police and fire trucks. I slid in behind the RV and in front of an ever-changing fleet of fire trucks, and we drove at Paulie’s walking pace - a little faster, maybe, as the lights and sirens most definitely added some pep to his step that day. As we rolled along police vehicles roared alongside us, stopping traffic at every intersection to give Paulie and his cart the right of way all the way through town. And town after town after town. By the time we stopped for lunch, the firefighters in the next town were excited to offer Paulie some food off of the local Food Truck Paradise, a collection of food trucks so renowned they have collectively become a tourist mecca. Instead, Paulie tried to feed them food from the bus. I realized that Paulie is that kind of guy - give, give, give… take as little as possible.
If you visited PauliesPush.com and checked in on the PaulieCam - cart cam? - the days that I was there, you’d often find the Tesla trailing Paulie’s RV, or passing him as we drove the route from stop to stop, supporting the mapping software, social media, and Paulie at the same time.
It hadn’t necessarily been planned to involve so many police and fire departments, but Paulie’s Push and its connection to 9/11 clearly meant something to them, too. At one firehouse every single ladder truck waited for Paulie and his cart, lights flashing. At another, a former fire chief waited with his bagpipes. And between firehouses, firefighters walked with Paulie - something else we hadn’t expected. That, I think, gave Paulie the ‘push’ that he needed to walk even further day after day.
One of the highlights, for me and for Paulie, was a visit to the South Fire District 9/11 Memorial - a monument crafted from a steel beam from the World Trade Center. The memorial had been off of the route, but when the team was told what it was we piled into the RV and drove over to see it. Paulie got choked up when he saw it.
And everywhere else we went, the people of Connecticut went as well. Paulie’s arrival into a town seemed to generate a buzz and then some, with local news, police and fire, town governments, towns people, and even businesses getting in on the excitement. Paulie was inspiring people across the country, and the folks in towns across Connecticut were getting to see him and his airline beverage cart firsthand. In Durham, CT, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered on the town square to watch him do an interview with a national news program. (It didn’t materialize - the pitfalls of working with the media). In another, firefighters and ordinary citizens alike braved a downpour to get their pictures taken with Paulie.
My first day with the Facebook page I was responding to messages when I spotted one from Brut America. Brut is a French news outlet that puts together short video clips on news stories of interest to its viewers, who tend to skew younger than the ordinary news outlet. They were interested in sending their editors out to film and interview Paulie. We set everything up, and their video on TikTok wound up going viral, garnering 4.1 million views in just a few short days. From that point on Paulie’s course was inundated by young TikTokers who had seen his effort on the app and wanted to come out and encourage him. You can see the TikTok here.
I hadn’t worked since my cancer diagnosis, and I have to admit that I got caught up in the excitement of it all - you couldn’t help it, Paulie’s enthusiasm was contagious, and everywhere he went people caught it. Slowly over the course of a few days, though, I began to notice that my midsection was beginning to hurt, and my digestion issues - normally a bit more noticeable in the days leading up to my monthly Sandostatin injection - were beginning to take off to a whole different level. I’d planned to head home for Labor Day weekend, having made holiday plans long before, but I looked forward to returning afterwards. My appointment at the cancer center was for the following Friday, and I expected to suffer through pain and discomfort up until then, but I noticed very quickly that, once on the road and heading home, my pain began to diminish. Neuroendocrine cancer patients are warned to avoid a number of things, including lifting heavy objects, spicy foods, alcohol, and stress. Being ‘cancer retired’ with a lot of support from family and friends, my stress levels hadn’t been high in a while. The gig with Paulie and his cart, though strictly volunteer, added a level of stress I put on myself to knock social media out of the park - and that, apparently, would be all it would take to affect my health.
Still, the experience was amazing, and I still find myself wishing I could have continued with the team right up into Ground Zero. I agreed to help Paulie on some upcoming adventures after 9/11 - maybe the lack of deadlines will make a difference.
I will eventually return to handling social media for a few events events, including a 77-mile relay race slated to be held in the spring. I’m excited about doing my next event in the Tesla - it was the perfect vehicle for the motorcade, or for idling by the side of the road for an hour waiting for an airline beverage cart to be pushed past. I’m sure it will add to any event I decide to take it to.
