July 25, 2024 • 39 mins
What happens when life throws you into the heart of a violent neighborhood, and you have to fight your way through to rise above the chaos? Meet Eric Sims from Deanwood, Northeast DC, whose journey from the tumultuous Lincoln Heights housing project is both inspiring and heart-wrenching. Raised by a tireless single mother in an environment plagued by gangs and predators, Mr. Sims shares how he navigated the harsh streets while helping care for his siblings. His mother's determination to provide a stable home shines through as a beacon of hope in his narrative.
Mr. Sims takes us deep into a confrontation that left him accused and imprisoned under dire conditions. He opens up about the satanic visions and suicidal thoughts that haunted him while confined, and how prayer became his lifeline. This gripping chapter of Eric's life underscores the mental and emotional toll of such an extreme ordeal and the power of faith in overcoming it.
Faith and resilience illuminate Eric's path as he rebuilds his life post-incarceration. His story is a testament to unwavering dedication and the transformative power of serving others. Mr. Sims reflects on the challenges of managing employees, maintaining professionalism, and his deep commitment to his community and church. Join us as Mr. Sims shares poignant moments, lessons learned, and his unyielding faith in a conversation that promises to resonate with anyone facing life's toughest battles.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chuck (00:10):
Hey, welcome back to another episode of let's Just
Talk About it podcast.
I'm your host, chuck, and ifyou're here for the first time,
this platform was created togive genuine people just like
you an opportunity to share aportion of your life's journey.
So, with that being said, todayon this episode, I have Mr Eric
Sims, from Washington DC, wherehe shares his journey of how it
(00:30):
was growing up in the northeastsection of a place called
Deanwood, and also who made himinto the man he is today.
So, hey, you don't want to missthis amazing conversation.
As a matter of fact, do me afavor Go and grab your husband,
your wife, your children, oreven call a friend and gather
around to listen to myconversation with Mr Sims on
(00:50):
let's Just Talk About it podcast.
Hey, let's jump right in.
Thank you so much for tuning into let's Just Talk About it
podcast today.
I have Mr Eric Sims on with metoday.
How's it going, mr Sims?
I'm fine.
Thank you, it's a pleasure tobe here.
Yeah, thank you for coming on.
Yes sir, yes sir, Mr Sims, Ilove to jump right into my
(01:11):
interviews to have those genuineconversations with genuine
people just like yourself, and Ireally believe that everybody
has their own unique journey ofhow they grew up, situations
they've been through that.
I believe somebody's out therewho's going through the same
thing that you have been throughthat needs to hear your story.
So the first question I'd loveto jump in with and ask where
(01:33):
are you from?
Where did you grow?
Mr. Eric Sims (01:35):
up.
I grew up in Washington DC inNortheast, in a section called
Deanwood.
Deanwood Wow, yes, sir.
Chuck (01:43):
How was that?
Mr. Eric Sims (01:48):
Well, we spent our time our early childhood in
a place called Lincoln Heights.
It was a housing project and Ihave to say it wasn't so nice
Violence, predators and peoplebeing preyed on and all of the
all of that gangs.
It's just not a very pleasantplace to grow up.
Wow, you said Deanwood.
Deanwood it was a section ofNortheast and the project's
(02:10):
called Lincoln Heights.
Chuck (02:11):
Got you, wow.
So you grew up there.
So you're growing up in LincolnHeights.
I mean not in Lincoln Heights,but you grew up in Deanwood.
So was it a two-parenthousehold?
How was that?
Mr. Eric Sims (02:23):
No, sir, my father left my mother with five
kids and he just took off.
He woke up one day, one eveningI guess.
He got up and said I'm going togo out and go buy some
cigarettes and he never cameback.
Never came back.
Wow, Never came back.
And so she raised us the bestshe could.
(02:43):
We lived in a series ofbasement apartments and
eventually we got a place on ahousing project, an apartment
and a housing project, and Istayed there doing from
elementary through but throughjunior high and um about first
part of high school.
But just before high school,yeah, we got a house and we
moved out just outside theproject.
(03:04):
So in fact there's a few blocksfrom the projects, but it was
our own house.
But it was tough and my worktwo or three jobs to to keep
things going.
And, and I was the eldest offive children we had, um, four
boys and one girl.
My sister was the baby and umagain, it was my responsibility
to take care of them and lookafter them and make sure that
(03:27):
they were okay.
And in the projects it wasrough.
We had, you know, always beenthe new people in the
neighborhood that people want totry you and see what you made
of them, right, right, right.
So I had to deal with all ofthat and I think I was
successful, because after a fewweeks people got the message
that you don't mess around.
(03:48):
Yeah, you don't play, you don'tplay.
Chuck (03:51):
Yeah, wow.
Mr. Eric Sims (03:53):
It took a little bit, but after a while it got to
the point where they just plainleft us alone.
Wow, and it was always cool.
You had to fight just aboutevery day.
Go to lunch my brother gave uslunch money and you had to fight
just about every day.
You know, go to lunch, go to.
My brother gave us lunch moneyand you had to fight to keep
your lunch money because I'm thekind of person that you know
you're not going to takeanything from me.
So if I have to fight every day, I have to fight every day.
But you know, eventually it gotto the point where they left us
(04:16):
alone and we were okay, but itwas a very nice environment and
I taught a lot of the wronglessons, you know.
But we survived and my mom gota house, went back to school,
became a nurse.
I started at Freedman'sHospital and then Freedman's
became Howard.
It's on the same campus asHoward University.
(04:36):
So Freedman's became HowardUniversity Hospital and that's
where she ultimately retired andthat's when she ultimately
retired.
And about my freshman year ofhigh school, she met and married
the groundskeeper there, CecilPearson, and they married and he
became my stepfather.
Wow, and he's just about thebest man I'd ever known.
(04:58):
Wow, he's just a good guy.
Chuck (05:00):
So he raised you.
Mr. Eric Sims (05:01):
Well, by that time I was in high school.
Chuck (05:03):
So I guess he had a hand in kind of finishing me off.
Mr. Eric Sims (05:10):
Yeah, most of my childhood was behind me by then.
You know, I got my first car in, let's see, junior year of high
school Between junior andsenior year, I got my first car.
So you know, by then mychildhood was behind me, but I
still respected him and listenedto him and I learned a lot from
him.
Chuck (05:27):
Wow, Wow.
You talk about trauma today.
Did that really, you know, likeyour father not being there.
Did that affect you mentally?
Mr. Eric Sims (05:38):
That's probably the most profound thing that
happened in my life.
I wrote a story one time for acollege class called my Father
and Me, and it felt like I waschasing a ghost because my
father's people uncle and aunt,my godparents were actually.
Well, his brother was mygodfather and his wife was my
(05:59):
godmother.
And every time I go around andthey say you look just W that
was my father's name, jw and youlook just like him, you talk
like him, you walk like him, butI'd never seen him.
I'd only seen him from an oldblack and white picture, right,
and I would go around mymother's brothers and they would
(06:19):
tell me the same thing how muchI looked like him, never had
anything to do with him, and Iresented the fact that he left
us like that because my head istough and she worked two or
three jobs just to keep things,keep a roof over our head and
keep food in our belly.
And when we got to the project,she first thing she never said
it, verbalized it, buteverything she did implied that
(06:42):
we were just passing through.
She didn't want us to getcomfortable in that environment.
She would take us on back.
Then they had streetcars andthen buses and she would take us
down to the museums downtownand places like that to expose
us to the fact that our worldwas a lot bigger than those
projects.
Wow, I like that man.
And then she eventually got acar and would take us to Ocean
(07:04):
City and Coral Beach and even asfar as Coney Island in New York
, put us all in the car.
And then my grandparents mymother was born in Spartanburg,
south Carolina, and ourgrandparents still live there
and she would take us down thereand leave us in the summertime
or put us on the bus or trainand send us down and we just we
(07:26):
were exposed to a lot of thingsthat I'm not like, yeah, the
other kids in my neighborhooddidn't.
They, you know, they were verylimited in the outlook and it
got to the point where Igraduated from.
Just before I graduated fromhigh school, the federal
government, the Department ofCommerce, came to recruit people
because they built a newcomplex called the Bureau of
(07:46):
National Bureau of Standards outin Gaithersburg, Maryland,
about 35 miles outside of DC.
And they came to recruit peoplefrom the from high school to
work in their technician program.
They wanted what they callinner city people to come out.
And I told people you know, Igot a college education
basically just for being black.
(08:07):
So there was like 2,000 peopleon the campus and there wasn't a
lot of us out there.
I'll put it like that when wesaw each other, we wore up to
each other and hugged and kissedeach other on both cheeks so
few black people out there, butit helped me.
Wow, and going back to formativeyears, when I think about it,
(08:31):
there's a passage in Mark andMatthew.
It says how shall it profit aman if he gained the whole world
and yet lose his soul?
Or what shall a man give inexchange for his soul?
And because I grew up in theprojects and grew up poor, I had
the attitude that I wantedeverything everybody else had.
Everybody I saw on TV withhouses and cars.
I wanted it and that drove mywhole life and it motivated me
(08:54):
to want more, to want more, towant more.
So when I left high school Igot a job at the Bureau of
Standards.
Then I left the Bureau ofStandards, joined the Air Force,
came back from the Air Force tothe Bureau of Standards and
eventually went into privateindustry.
But what got me in trouble wasgetting involved with a guy that
was.
He worked for the secondlargest private security company
(09:19):
in Maryland and he was black.
And he approached my wife andme and asked us if we would help
him create a minority company,get set aside from the
government.
And we wrote the paperwork,business plan, all that stuff,
and then we were going to be set, basically because I'm in the
(09:41):
mindset that I want more, andthat got me involved in that
deal Because a good friend ofmine introduced me to him, so I
figured, the guy must be allright, because my friend
introduced us and it turns outthe guy was a crook.
So what he was doing, we createdour company and what he did was
(10:02):
take uniforms, money checks andall that and writing checks to
people who were working for usand giving them uniforms and
things.
We had our own patches, but hewould put our patches on their
uniform and they were workingfor us at our sites, but he was
paying them out of his companyto get our company started.
And when I found out he wasdoing all this stuff, I told him
no thanks, you know you.
(10:23):
You know you go your way, I'llgo mine.
But he, um he, that wasn't goodenough for him.
So he started harassing us andcausing a whole bunch of stuff.
And my wife kept telling me youknow, just just be patient, you
know, have your day in court.
They didn't have, um uh, lawsagainst harassment and things
like that, because he didn'tactually do anything to us?
yeah, he was just calling us anddriving around the house and
(10:43):
acting crazy, but but, um, hethreatened my son one night, uh,
and I and he, um, my son was 15at the time and he threatened
my son and one day my son didn'tcome home from school.
So the kind of mindset that Iwas in after all this stress
dealing with this guy, I thoughthe had my son.
So I got some guys together andI got rented two cars and they
(11:04):
went in one car and I was inanother car and we went back and
forth from the job, the officewe had in Gatorsburg, to his
house in Fairfax, back and forth, and we were talking by cell
phone trying to figure out wherehe was, because wherever he was
we were going to get him.
Wow, because I just snapped andsaid this is it, I'm not living
like this anymore.
Right, I just snapped and saidthis is it, I'm not living like
(11:25):
this anymore.
So my wife kept saying leave italone, let the law handle it.
But I wasn't cut out.
Chuck (11:30):
I got to you by that time .
You're from Dean Town.
Go ahead.
Mr. Eric Sims (11:36):
One of the scenes in my life with Lamar Thomas
was Neighborhood Bullying.
Standing up to Lamar Thomas wasa big deal and I was that way.
You're not going to push mearound, you might beat me, you
might kill me, whatever.
But I don't run Because in theprojects, my attitude in the
projects, if you run once you'llbe, running for the rest of
your life.
So I don't run, I don't backdown.
(11:56):
He was a bully and again, theface I put on was Lamar Thomas
and we're not having this Right.
So basically, long story short,we had a confrontation in
Fairfax Parkway, out in Fairfax,and because I don't want to
sound like I'm boasting now,this is all God's grace I got
(12:16):
you.
But because I'm a better shotand I'm ambidextrous, I'm
even-handed.
You're both hands Right, we'reboth hands and I'm even-handed,
I can shoot right with bothhands and I'm firing this guy
from both sides of the car andbasically I hit him.
I thought I killed him.
I actually honestly thought Ikilled him and he slumped over
and he went off the road and Iwent on back home, bought some
(12:37):
Chinese and went home and atedinner like nothing happened.
And that's just how callous andindifferent I was about life,
about anything.
He was a threat to my existence, he was a threat to my way of
life and I wasn't having itRight.
So basically, he lied and toldthe police that I was the one
that shot him.
There's no way he could haveseen me.
It was dark and I wasn'tdriving my own.
All my cars have beendistinctive.
(12:58):
You can spot a car that I drovea mile away.
So I couldn't use my own car,so I rented a car.
And so the thing is, he lied tothe police and said that I was
the one.
But they came and got me andarrested me and the Bureau of
Alcohol, tobacco and Firearmstook me from Gaithersburg,
(13:19):
Maryland, where we were living,over to Baltimore and put me in
an underground dungeon and therewas no light.
I mean there was lights, noclock, no windows, the cell,
that when we get to the placethere's a desk sergeant there
and the two ATF agents had mehandcuffed and standing in front
of this desk and the desksergeant said why are you
bringing this man here?
And he said well, we want tobring him here because we want
(13:41):
him close to the court.
And the man said well, there'sa whole lot of places you could
have taken them that are closerto court than this.
Why are you bringing them here?
So now my antenna is going up.
You know if the man is runningto jail, he's asking why they
bring me here.
Chuck (13:53):
I'm kind of wondering what's going on.
Mr. Eric Sims (13:56):
So they take me in the cell and the cell had
metal walls between the cell butthere were bars in the front.
So, they put me in the cell hadmetal walls between the cells
but there were bars in the front.
So they put me in the cell andI'm in this bare cell.
There's a bare metal shelfthat's supposed to be a bed, but
there's no mattress on it, nobed linen, no clothes, no sheets
to spread anything, no hygienegoods, no washcloth, anything.
(14:21):
Just a sink commode combinationand a bare shelf.
And it was cold.
So I had a choice I could keepmy little tracksuit jacket on to
keep warm or I could roll it upand make a pillow out of it to
sleep on this bare shelf.
So I'm doing this for a while.
The first two days there was aguy next to me and we were
talking across the bars to eachother.
He was from Baltimore.
We were talking back and forthand I was keeping it together
(14:43):
like that because the only timeyou knew what time it was, when
the guy brought the food around,you'd ask him what time it was
and that was it.
Otherwise the lights on all thetime.
You can't tell day from night.
You don't know what time you'rejust there.
So they're all the way overthere.
They emphasize we can keep youfor three, and if we can't.
If we're not satisfied, we cango before a judge and get you to
(15:04):
stay in that cell.
Stay here for longer than threedays, but you're going to be
here at least three days.
So it kept emphasizing threedays, right?
So the first two days I'm okay,because the guys next to me, at
least I got some company totalk to.
But then on the end of thesecond day they took him out.
So I'm there by myself, so'm inthis cell and and I keep having
(15:25):
these visions satan is tellingme to commit suicide, kill
yourself, because, because theman got your son and you kill
him and you're never going toget out of this situation, the
only way you can get out of hereis to kill yourself.
So I'm in this cell by myselfand the devil and I'm convinced
it was the devil and and then hestarted focusing my attention
on a piece of glass in thecorner of the cell.
(15:46):
Wow, and this maximum securitycell where they take everything
from you, including the littlestring that ties around your
waist for the tracksuit.
They even took the string in myshoestrings out of my sneakers,
right, right.
So this is a maximum securityplace, but yet there was about a
two-inch Coke bottle, a pieceof a Coke bottle or Pepsi, I
(16:06):
couldn't tell which one, but itwas a two-inch piece of glass in
the cell.
And he kept fixating myattention on that cell, on that
glass in that cell, and he keptsaying kill yourself, kill
yourself.
And I started having thesevisions from above, myself in
the cell and looking down on mydead body with a pool of blood
all around me.
Wow, he kept bombarding me withthat image over and over and
(16:27):
over again.
So after a while I got to thepoint where I couldn't take it
anymore.
I turned to the back of thecell, raised my hands, crying
out to the Lord, tears streamingdown my face, and I just asked
the Lord, please help me, saveme, because only you can deliver
me from this.
So I'm crying and I'm allworked up and I had my hands in
the air and then suddenly thisgiant hand grabbed my right hand
(16:50):
.
Wow, and I didn't.
I never opened my eyes.
I was afraid to open my eyes,really.
Chuck (16:54):
But you could feel it.
Mr. Eric Sims (16:56):
I could feel this .
This big hand grabbed my handand led me around to the bed and
that metal shelf.
Then I sat down and he sat downbeside me and I leaned into his
chest and perfect peace cameover me, perfect peace.
He never spoke, but he said.
The feeling I got in my spiritwas everything's gonna be okay,
you're gonna be fine, and that'sand that's when I've been here.
(17:19):
This is like something.
Uh, it's early september's, um,memorial day, no labor day,
which's the end of the summer,memorial Day, the first, second
or third day of September, andit was a weekend.
So I don't know which day itwas, but it was the last day of
that holiday weekend.
What year was that?
This was 1991.
Wow.
And so the next morning I wokethose off to sleep and the next
(17:43):
morning I hear all these cellsopening and all this clanging
and stuff and the ATF agents.
They was all dressed in blacktactical gear and face shields
and all this stuff when theyarrested me.
Now they all in their nicesuits with cologne and all that
smelling good and walk up to theboss.
Mr Sims, how was your weekend?
I said my weekend was fine.
How was yours you?
Chuck (18:04):
didn't expect them to go that way.
Mr. Eric Sims (18:06):
No, they looked back at each other like you
wouldn't expect this, you know.
So they take me over to themagistrate and the magistrate
told me charges against me andall that.
It was bad.
It was really bad.
And told me charges against me.
But at the end I said yourHonor, may I speak?
He said, yes, sir, go ahead.
And I told him they took me tothis place and I described it no
(18:30):
bed linen, no mattress, nohygiene products.
I didn't have a chance to evenwash up or take a shower or
anything.
And they held me there forthree days like that.
And I said your Honor, if Ihave to go back to jail, please
don't let him send me back tothat place.
And he just went off.
He said you shouldn't havetaken him there.
I'm commanding you right now totake this man up to Montgomery
(18:50):
County Detention Center and donot take him back to that place.
I never had figured out wherethat place was, but I always
felt like Nelson Mandela one daywas trying to figure out where
it was.
Go back and take a look at it.
But it was underground.
Take a look at it.
Chuck (19:01):
But it was on the ground.
Mr. Eric Sims (19:02):
Right, they were driving so fast and they took me
on the ground.
But the last thing I did beforeI left that cell was take that
piece of glass and scratch the23rd Psalm in that wall for
memory.
I grew up in church and Iremember that and I tell people
that's like breadcrumbs, becausewhen I got lost I knew how to
find my way back because of allthose things I learned in Sunday
school and church and my motherand my grandmother taught me
(19:25):
and that's how I found the Lordand I've been his ever since.
Wow.
Chuck (19:30):
So it's important to grow up around that, because if you
find yourself in a position likeyou were in, you could find,
like you said, your way backhome.
Find your way back home.
There you go.
I like that.
Mr. Eric Sims (19:42):
You know, I can't call myself the prodigal son in
a sense, because I was raisedin the church.
I got you and I even wentforward and accepted Christ and
got baptized and promptly leftthe church for 20-something
years.
But the Lord, he's always there.
He's always been there for me.
I did my 10 years in prison.
It gave me 17 years, since I hadto do 10 years of mandatory and
(20:05):
that wasn't easy, but I got myassociate's degree.
While I was incarcerated, I meta lot of good brothers,
including the one I'm talking tohere.
Yeah, shout out to you.
Chuck (20:16):
You know what, when I first met you, we was in Roanoke
, virginia, camp 25.
Camp 25, bata, tide, blue RidgeMountains yes, sir, bata.
Mr. Eric Sims (20:25):
Tide, blue Ridge Mountains there you go yeah.
Yeah, I remember those dayswell, wow, and the Lord is good.
He was good to me throughoutthat whole thing, wow, and I can
tell you some stories aboutduring my time of incarceration.
But the bottom line is he wasfaithful to me all those 10
years and I was faithful to himand he was faithful to me and I
(20:47):
ate that Bible.
I had a Schofield referenceBible and that's my most
precious possession.
I wore that thing out.
I'm scared to move it, take itanywhere now because it's all
falling apart.
But I wore it out and it keptme.
It kept me and so when I cameback out it was just like
another day.
I thought, lord, they let me go.
What am I going to do now?
I was an electronics technician, been off the street 10 years.
(21:09):
I couldn't go back to that.
But he opened doors for me whenI first came home.
My cousin Charles got me workingin a place that delivered
newspapers and magazines and Iwas catching cash.
It was cash and go.
You know, they paid you.
You know, by, by, at the end ofthe week, pay your cash, kind
(21:29):
of thing.
And um, so my pro-losser saidyou got to get a job where they
give you a paycheck, a paycheckand a pay stub and all that.
They take out taxes and stuff.
Oh, you're going back.
I said, well, I'm not goingback.
So they had, um a job, say.
I came home to live in mymother's basement.
I lost everything my wife, myhouse, my car, everything.
I came back home with $75 and abus ticket to Richmond and I
(21:52):
had to pay the difference fromRichmond to DC myself.
And I got off that bus withnothing but the prison jumpsuit,
the prison jeans, the shirtthat I had and the money to get.
Not much you know.
So adding the money to get you?
Yeah, yeah, not much you know.
So my mother offered me to livein her basement.
So I got me a little spot inher basement and the Lord was
good to me and she was about,and, miss Ember, was you the
(22:12):
whole time.
Okay, yeah, he was all Momvisited.
I think if they had sent me tothe moon, mom would have found a
way to visit me, me on the move.
And one of the things she toldme one time when I visited.
They sent me to about half adozen different institutions.
Camp 25 was next to the lastone.
I was released from.
And she told me everywhere I go,when I visit you, the staff,
(22:33):
even the assistant warden, callsyou Mr Sims, and I said, really
, ma?
And she said, yeah, they alwaysrefer to you Mr Sims, not 2-1,
bob, that's not me.
What happened was God is usingme and I'm working according to
his will, doing what he wants meto do, and people see that and
(22:55):
that's what they.
It's not me, it's the Christ inme that they see and I'm living
and eventually I end up writinga book about that.
But the bottom line is you canlive an honorable life serving
the Lord, even behind bars.
And the thing of it all is, ifyou're serving him behind bars,
when that day comes for you toleave you'll be just another day
, and for me it was just anotherday.
(23:16):
There you go.
I don't know where I'm going, Idon't know what's in front of
me, but I have a savior who'salready over there and already
has it worked out, and that'swhat.
That's what I, when I do jailand prison ministry and happy
houses and stuff you still doingthat.
Yes, sir, I've been doing thatsince 2005 or so.
Wow, I got.
(23:36):
I got what I call a get out ofjail free pass.
I got a jail ID that lets me goin and out of the jail.
And people in the status blocks, you know, like segregated
housing and all that kind ofstuff, because they can't come
out to the services, so I takethe service to them.
But the thing is and one of mythings is, I tell them that the
(24:00):
Lord allows us to get in theseboxes, but he never puts the top
on the box.
You can always look up to himand you're not in that cell by
yourself, and so this is anopposite, and I'm telling you
this from experience.
I met the Lord himself in thatsituation like that, and you can
be introduced to him too, ifyou desire.
You can go left and keepgetting what you've been getting
(24:21):
, or you can turn right and keepstraight.
Chuck (24:23):
This is a choice.
This is a choice.
Mr. Eric Sims (24:25):
This is a choice, so, so, so.
So the thing is, when I got outI lived my mother's basement.
Mom was about to lose her housebecause she she climbed the
chair and broke her ankle andhad to put pins in it so she
couldn't work and she saw itfalling behind in the mortgage.
She's like three months behindin a mortgage by when got home,
but she still, let me live withit.
(24:45):
I got one decent job and theneventually I got a job as a
contractor, driving a bus fromMontgomery County as a contract
bus driver, and I did that forthree years and then I got a job
with the county for two years.
And so, after 10 years in prison, we were looking around trying
to figure out how to save thehouse, how to years.
And so, after 10 years inprison, we were looking around
(25:06):
trying to figure out how to savethe house.
How to save the house, the Lordsent me to a man named Ralph
Patrick who was a mortgagebanker with SunTrust Mortgage,
and he said he's a Christian.
And he said, mr and Mrs Sim,we're going to find a way to get
you a mortgage.
And he pulled out all the stuff, he did everything and he
finally got us a mortgage and Ihave to say he's a white man,
but he's a good guy and he didit.
(25:28):
So I got the.
I'm actually living in mymother's house, but the house is
in my name and I still call itMa's house because it's Ma's
house.
So we kept that house until Mapassed.
Wow.
Chuck (25:43):
The.
Mr. Eric Sims (25:43):
Thing is that job .
The contract job led to afull-time job as a county
operator.
I worked that job for two yearsas a bus operator.
Then a job in customer serviceopened up and they gave me that
job.
Then that job led to a job as asupervisor.
Then after that I worked aswhat they call an acting chief
(26:04):
and then they made me chief.
Chief is the top job of thedepot and when I left I tell
people my first job I was making$6.25.
I was making $6.25.
When I retired as a chief, Iwas making six figures and I had
(26:24):
a $42 million annual budget and300 people reporting to me.
And this is with a convictedfelon, with a criminal
conviction, and the Lord has away of opening doors that no man
can shut and he can shut doorsthat no man can open and I'm
living proof that that's a fact.
And the bottom line is I didn'tgo around with a sandwich board
saying convicted criminal or Idid this, that and the other,
but the people who needed toknow knew Our personnel
(26:45):
department people like that knew.
But the rest of it, that's justbetween me and the Lord and I
honored them with that position.
I got a corner office where Iparked my car in the spot that
says chief, and I walk up threeor four steps into my own office
with three windows around and awindow on the inside.
Yeah, I actually had threewindows because the other one
(27:05):
was my little storage area, so Ihad three windows around it and
I parked my car right out infront and I honored the Lord
because I'm in a position tomake decisions that my
predecessor, the woman that Ireplaced, would not make.
People have problems and thingslike that.
Right, the first thing alwayswhen you're in that kind of a
position, you tell them to go toyour supervisor.
(27:26):
If the supervisor can't work itout, then you come to me,
because I can't spend all mydays dealing with all those kind
of things.
That's what I got supervisorsfor, if I had like 14
supervisors or whatever it wasand the bus operator used to go
to the supervisor, but sometimesthe supervisor didn't get it
right and they would come to me.
My mother's died, my father'sdied in Africa and I got to go
home for however many days,because when you spend money
(27:48):
like that to go to Africa, it'sexpensive and they don't want to
go and come right back.
They want to stay for a whileand I understand that and I
would do that because I'm in aposition to do that.
See, the Lord wants me in thatposition because he wants me to
do the right thing.
You see, and we have rules andwe understand that.
We got policies.
We understand that.
But because of me in thatposition, I can do things within
(28:11):
the policy to honor the personand do the right thing and still
be consistent with the policyAbsolutely.
Instead of being mean andhard-hearted with people, I
treat people right, absolutely.
I never lock my car.
I don't do that.
Chuck (28:24):
My predecessor, keep the blinds open and lock the car and
all that.
Mr. Eric Sims (28:31):
But you see, I treat people right going up.
Chuck (28:33):
So if I have to, come back down.
Mr. Eric Sims (28:34):
I'm going to meet the same people.
Chuck (28:36):
I like that.
Mr. Eric Sims (28:38):
I had a guy one time I'm walking down, it's my
wife and.
I walking in Target together.
And this guy said Coach, hecame up and I greeted him.
He spoke to me, shook hands andkept on walking.
And my wife said he said thaty'all fired him because he had a
sick mother and father.
And I said sweetheart, that'snot real, that's really not what
happened.
Because I know better, I can'treveal his business to her but
(29:00):
that's not what happened.
So the thing of it all is, evenpeople that had the discipline
knew that I was discipliningthem because they deserve to be
disciplined.
You don't cuss people out.
You don't fail to let thekneeler or the ramp out on the
bus and have some senior citizencrawl up on the bus on their
hands and knees because you'retoo stupid to hit the switch and
let them down.
You don't do those kinds ofthings.
(29:21):
You don't mess with the camerason the bus.
The cameras are there for yoursecurity and the security of
people on the bus.
You cover up the camera.
I got to discipline you.
You don't take a 40-foot busflying a 40-foot bus past a
school bus with the stop sign on, with the lights flashing and
the arm out because you couldkill somebody's kid.
So I'm sorry, you know you getthree days home for that.
I'm sorry, you know, because Ineed to let you know you can't
(29:44):
keep doing that kind of stuff.
The the first time I'm willingto cut you some slack, but the
second and third time I'm sorry.
You got to go all the way, youknow, and that's what I was.
But again, I meet these peoplefrom time to time, you know.
Like I say probably thousandsof people have my phone number.
I've never changed my phonenumber, so all these people that
I deal with, they know that Ihad the discipline.
(30:05):
Discipline is not my firstchoice.
My first choice is right.
It's not.
Discipline is not my firstchoice.
My first choice is right is totalk to you and try to counsel
with you and that kind of thing.
But if you keep doing the sameold thing and knowing that what
you're doing is wrong, I'm sorry.
You know you got to go theother way.
You're not leaving me with awhole lot of choice here,
because if you kill somebody'skid, first of all they're going
(30:26):
to deal with you first.
But right after they deal withyou they're going to come to see
me and I don't want to be in aposition to have to defend
something like that wheneverybody knows that you're
going to stop for a school busbefore the lights come on.
The process is the school busslows down, turns on the yellow
light and then stops and turnson the red light.
So if you're smart, as soon asthey turn on the yellow lights
(30:48):
you'll stop.
You won't try to beat themturning on the red lights.
You'll stop for the yellowlight because that's the safe
thing to do.
And again, you're being paidfor every second that you're
behind the wheel.
So there's no rush.
You know you don't have to.
You're not really savinganything by flying by the school
bus.
It doesn't make any sense andthat was my big issue right
there the school bus and thenpeople being rude and
disrespectful to passengers.
(31:09):
And I tell them all the timesometimes the best thing to say
is nothing.
You're under no obligation togo tit for tat with people.
If people want to be rude anddisrespectful and ugly and want
to start arguing, just cut itoff.
Sir ma'am, please take a seat.
Have a good day, keep it movingyou know this is just common
(31:30):
sense to me, but a lot of peoplewill get all caught up in it,
you know.
And then I think you've seenpeople get stabbed and stuff
over the fare.
You know People don't realizethat 90% of the fare on a bus is
already covered, either federalor state money.
So the company you're payingfor when they put that money in
the box, the company's onlygetting like 10% of that money.
So why are you going to make anissue of the fare?
(31:50):
I tell them, you let them knowand let it go, you inform and
then forget it.
Sir ma'am, the fare's whateverit is.
If they refuse to pay, that'sfine.
Have a seat, take a seat andkeep on going.
But I've seen people go tit fortat with people.
Next thing, you know, guy'scoming up front with a knife to
stab them, you know, and thatkind of stuff.
Or pull a gun out or wait foryou.
(32:11):
Every day I explain to them thatyou're on a route, you're on a
fixed route, on a fixed schedule.
So every day at that same time,they know they're going to see
you at that spot.
So think about this for asecond.
If you know this, why would youwant to provoke somebody to do
(32:36):
you harm if you know if theydon't get you today, they can
wait till tomorrow or the nextday or the next week.
But they know you're going tobe at that spot.
So why would you do that toyourself?
To yourself, not to the company, to yourself, why would you do
that?
But I have people that have tosit down and talk to them and
explain to them how the worldworks, you know, and they just
figure the world revolves aroundme and I'm sorry but it doesn't
.
You know it's a big's a bigworld.
You can't make it about you.
It's not about you, it's aboutthe service.
You know you represent acompany and if you want to have
your own bus company, you knowit's my job to help you.
(32:57):
You know, find that opportunity, gotcha, gotcha.
And I would do that sometimes.
It wasn't my favorite thing todo.
You know I don't like firingpeople.
You know people gotta pay rentand keep a roof over their head
and food in their stomach andtake care of their family.
I don't like seeing people outof a job.
But if you just don't want todo it, then you know I don't
have a choice.
I can find somebody that can.
(33:18):
I always have more peopleapplying for a job than have
positions to fill.
So you know, if you don't wantto do it, I can get somebody
else to do it.
You know I give you a try.
You know I give you a shot.
But you know we can't have youout there hurting people and
being rude to people and causingaccidents and all that kind of
stuff.
We just can't do it, we can'tafford it.
Wow.
So, but the Lord gave me thatkind of wisdom and I was.
(33:40):
I had fun doing it, I really did.
It was the most stressful thingI've ever had, because my phone
, you know, but if they have anaccident or fatality or
something, I'm the first callthey make.
You know I got to be there or Ianswer the call and tell them
what to do.
You know, make sure all thereports are done and the
post-accident drug test and allthat stuff gets done.
But he put me there because heknew I could do the job and I
(34:04):
appreciate it.
I got my bachelor's degree.
It's part of that process, youknow.
I had that bachelor's degree inorder to get to apply for the
job and I just trusted the lordand he got me that you know, my
mother got sick and ended uppassing away and I had to take
tests and things like thatduring that time and I, I feel I
think it was two classes, Ifeel because I was dealing with
(34:25):
that and the lord had me take amove again and I passed with a.
I ended with like a 3.5 orsomething overall GPA.
And you know, I was on thehonor roll twice and, like I say
, the Lord opens doors and Ijust walked through the doors
that he opened and that's beenmy life and I retired.
We had COVID.
(34:46):
My wife and I got COVID inApril 2020, and we were
quarantined in the house.
My wife and I got COVID inApril 2020, and we were
quarantined in-house my wife andme.
My brother lives in ourbasement and my nephew, my
brother's son, and we were allquarantined in-house all the
month of April 2020.
And that's as sick as I've everbeen in my entire life.
I honestly didn't think I wasgoing to make it, but my wife
(35:07):
nursed me back.
She wasn't in that good shapeherself, but she nursed me back.
I couldn't even eat a spoonfulof chicken noodle soup or a sip
of water.
I mean, I couldn't keepanything down.
I couldn't breathe.
I mean it was horrible, but theLord brought us all out.
All of us are still here andI've had COVID three times.
(35:29):
The second two wasn't as bad asthe first, but I've had it
three times and every time itgets easier than these.
So next time COVID rings thedoorbell, we just tell her to go
next door because we're donewith it.
You know, and church, you knowwe missed.
That was the only time I missedchurch.
I'm on the audio video team inour church and I'm a trustee and
(35:50):
a minister, and I do.
You know I wear a lot ofdifferent hats, but it's all in
service to the Lord.
I'll do anything he wants me todo.
Anytime he asks me, I'm aboutthat, and so that's what we do.
And you know, some peoplelisten and some don't, but it's
not my job to do that.
I'm a seed sower.
I just sow the seed and it'sthe Lord who decides what kind
(36:10):
of seed, what kind of soil theseed ends up in.
That's not my job.
My job is just to sow the seed.
Got you and I love doing it.
I love talking about him.
He's my favorite subject.
Chuck (36:23):
Wow, I appreciate you sharing your journey, Mr Sims.
Mr. Eric Sims (36:26):
I really do, man.
Thank you for doing that man.
Chuck (36:30):
Thank you for the opportunity, Absolutely as we
close, and I appreciate you.
As we close, tell the listeningaudience who is Mr Sims today.
How would you describe yourselfas we close, Mr Sims?
Mr. Eric Sims (36:43):
isa, christian man who loves the Lord, and I'm
fully a part and fully involvedin our community here in DC.
And I'm definitely black andand fully involved in our
community here in DC, and I'mdefinitely black and going to be
black and don't have any choicein that and that's fine.
But my attitude is, no matterwhat color you are, no matter
where you're from, what yourcircle says Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth and the life, andno man comes to the Father
(37:05):
except through him.
And that's my story and he'sbeen good to me, he's been good
to us, my wife and me and we'reliving the best life we've ever
had before because of him.
It was all because of him.
Chuck (37:20):
Amazing.
Well, thank you, man, for beingon and sharing your unique
journey, your own unique story,and I'm quite sure somebody's
out there going to hear this andgoing to be inspired by what
you're saying through yourjourney.
I really appreciate you.
Mr Sims, thank you for being on, let's Just.
Talk About it podcast.
I really appreciate it again.
Mr. Eric Sims (37:39):
Yes, sir, and thank you for the opportunity.
You be blessed you too.
Chuck (37:42):
Thank you.
Mr. Eric Sims (37:43):
All right, sir, bye-bye.
Chuck (37:47):
Wow, what an amazing conversation today.
Shout out to you to you, mrSims, for having this dialogue
with me and for sharing yourjourney and wisdom with the
world, and I want to thankeveryone for always tuning in to
let's just talk about itpodcast and if you have any
media needs, such as videographyand photography, you can reach
out to me and my partner LowMills at MMB Media.
So, as always, until next time,don't hold it in, but let's
(38:11):
just talk about it.
Talk to you soon, thank you,you.
Hey, welcome back to another episode of let's Just
Talk About it podcast.
I'm your host, chuck, and ifyou're here for the first time,
this platform was created togive genuine people just like
you an opportunity to share aportion of your life's journey.
So, with that being said, todayon this episode, I have Mr Eric
Sims, from Washington DC, wherehe shares his journey of how it
(00:30):
was growing up in the northeastsection of a place called
Deanwood, and also who made himinto the man he is today.
So, hey, you don't want to missthis amazing conversation.
As a matter of fact, do me afavor Go and grab your husband,
your wife, your children, oreven call a friend and gather
around to listen to myconversation with Mr Sims on
(00:50):
let's Just Talk About it podcast.
Hey, let's jump right in.
Thank you so much for tuning into let's Just Talk About it
podcast today.
I have Mr Eric Sims on with metoday.
How's it going, mr Sims?
I'm fine.
Thank you, it's a pleasure tobe here.
Yeah, thank you for coming on.
Yes sir, yes sir, Mr Sims, Ilove to jump right into my
(01:11):
interviews to have those genuineconversations with genuine
people just like yourself, and Ireally believe that everybody
has their own unique journey ofhow they grew up, situations
they've been through that.
I believe somebody's out therewho's going through the same
thing that you have been throughthat needs to hear your story.
So the first question I'd loveto jump in with and ask where
(01:33):
are you from?
Where did you grow?
Mr. Eric Sims (01:35):
up.
I grew up in Washington DC inNortheast, in a section called
Deanwood.
Deanwood Wow, yes, sir.
Chuck (01:43):
How was that?
Mr. Eric Sims (01:48):
Well, we spent our time our early childhood in
a place called Lincoln Heights.
It was a housing project and Ihave to say it wasn't so nice
Violence, predators and peoplebeing preyed on and all of the
all of that gangs.
It's just not a very pleasantplace to grow up.
Wow, you said Deanwood.
Deanwood it was a section ofNortheast and the project's
(02:10):
called Lincoln Heights.
Chuck (02:11):
Got you, wow.
So you grew up there.
So you're growing up in LincolnHeights.
I mean not in Lincoln Heights,but you grew up in Deanwood.
So was it a two-parenthousehold?
How was that?
Mr. Eric Sims (02:23):
No, sir, my father left my mother with five
kids and he just took off.
He woke up one day, one eveningI guess.
He got up and said I'm going togo out and go buy some
cigarettes and he never cameback.
Never came back.
Wow, Never came back.
And so she raised us the bestshe could.
(02:43):
We lived in a series ofbasement apartments and
eventually we got a place on ahousing project, an apartment
and a housing project, and Istayed there doing from
elementary through but throughjunior high and um about first
part of high school.
But just before high school,yeah, we got a house and we
moved out just outside theproject.
(03:04):
So in fact there's a few blocksfrom the projects, but it was
our own house.
But it was tough and my worktwo or three jobs to to keep
things going.
And, and I was the eldest offive children we had, um, four
boys and one girl.
My sister was the baby and umagain, it was my responsibility
to take care of them and lookafter them and make sure that
(03:27):
they were okay.
And in the projects it wasrough.
We had, you know, always beenthe new people in the
neighborhood that people want totry you and see what you made
of them, right, right, right.
So I had to deal with all ofthat and I think I was
successful, because after a fewweeks people got the message
that you don't mess around.
(03:48):
Yeah, you don't play, you don'tplay.
Chuck (03:51):
Yeah, wow.
Mr. Eric Sims (03:53):
It took a little bit, but after a while it got to
the point where they just plainleft us alone.
Wow, and it was always cool.
You had to fight just aboutevery day.
Go to lunch my brother gave uslunch money and you had to fight
just about every day.
You know, go to lunch, go to.
My brother gave us lunch moneyand you had to fight to keep
your lunch money because I'm thekind of person that you know
you're not going to takeanything from me.
So if I have to fight every day, I have to fight every day.
But you know, eventually it gotto the point where they left us
(04:16):
alone and we were okay, but itwas a very nice environment and
I taught a lot of the wronglessons, you know.
But we survived and my mom gota house, went back to school,
became a nurse.
I started at Freedman'sHospital and then Freedman's
became Howard.
It's on the same campus asHoward University.
(04:36):
So Freedman's became HowardUniversity Hospital and that's
where she ultimately retired andthat's when she ultimately
retired.
And about my freshman year ofhigh school, she met and married
the groundskeeper there, CecilPearson, and they married and he
became my stepfather.
Wow, and he's just about thebest man I'd ever known.
(04:58):
Wow, he's just a good guy.
Chuck (05:00):
So he raised you.
Mr. Eric Sims (05:01):
Well, by that time I was in high school.
Chuck (05:03):
So I guess he had a hand in kind of finishing me off.
Mr. Eric Sims (05:10):
Yeah, most of my childhood was behind me by then.
You know, I got my first car in, let's see, junior year of high
school Between junior andsenior year, I got my first car.
So you know, by then mychildhood was behind me, but I
still respected him and listenedto him and I learned a lot from
him.
Chuck (05:27):
Wow, Wow.
You talk about trauma today.
Did that really, you know, likeyour father not being there.
Did that affect you mentally?
Mr. Eric Sims (05:38):
That's probably the most profound thing that
happened in my life.
I wrote a story one time for acollege class called my Father
and Me, and it felt like I waschasing a ghost because my
father's people uncle and aunt,my godparents were actually.
Well, his brother was mygodfather and his wife was my
(05:59):
godmother.
And every time I go around andthey say you look just W that
was my father's name, jw and youlook just like him, you talk
like him, you walk like him, butI'd never seen him.
I'd only seen him from an oldblack and white picture, right,
and I would go around mymother's brothers and they would
(06:19):
tell me the same thing how muchI looked like him, never had
anything to do with him, and Iresented the fact that he left
us like that because my head istough and she worked two or
three jobs just to keep things,keep a roof over our head and
keep food in our belly.
And when we got to the project,she first thing she never said
it, verbalized it, buteverything she did implied that
(06:42):
we were just passing through.
She didn't want us to getcomfortable in that environment.
She would take us on back.
Then they had streetcars andthen buses and she would take us
down to the museums downtownand places like that to expose
us to the fact that our worldwas a lot bigger than those
projects.
Wow, I like that man.
And then she eventually got acar and would take us to Ocean
(07:04):
City and Coral Beach and even asfar as Coney Island in New York
, put us all in the car.
And then my grandparents mymother was born in Spartanburg,
south Carolina, and ourgrandparents still live there
and she would take us down thereand leave us in the summertime
or put us on the bus or trainand send us down and we just we
(07:26):
were exposed to a lot of thingsthat I'm not like, yeah, the
other kids in my neighborhooddidn't.
They, you know, they were verylimited in the outlook and it
got to the point where Igraduated from.
Just before I graduated fromhigh school, the federal
government, the Department ofCommerce, came to recruit people
because they built a newcomplex called the Bureau of
(07:46):
National Bureau of Standards outin Gaithersburg, Maryland,
about 35 miles outside of DC.
And they came to recruit peoplefrom the from high school to
work in their technician program.
They wanted what they callinner city people to come out.
And I told people you know, Igot a college education
basically just for being black.
(08:07):
So there was like 2,000 peopleon the campus and there wasn't a
lot of us out there.
I'll put it like that when wesaw each other, we wore up to
each other and hugged and kissedeach other on both cheeks so
few black people out there, butit helped me.
Wow, and going back to formativeyears, when I think about it,
(08:31):
there's a passage in Mark andMatthew.
It says how shall it profit aman if he gained the whole world
and yet lose his soul?
Or what shall a man give inexchange for his soul?
And because I grew up in theprojects and grew up poor, I had
the attitude that I wantedeverything everybody else had.
Everybody I saw on TV withhouses and cars.
I wanted it and that drove mywhole life and it motivated me
(08:54):
to want more, to want more, towant more.
So when I left high school Igot a job at the Bureau of
Standards.
Then I left the Bureau ofStandards, joined the Air Force,
came back from the Air Force tothe Bureau of Standards and
eventually went into privateindustry.
But what got me in trouble wasgetting involved with a guy that
was.
He worked for the secondlargest private security company
(09:19):
in Maryland and he was black.
And he approached my wife andme and asked us if we would help
him create a minority company,get set aside from the
government.
And we wrote the paperwork,business plan, all that stuff,
and then we were going to be set, basically because I'm in the
(09:41):
mindset that I want more, andthat got me involved in that
deal Because a good friend ofmine introduced me to him, so I
figured, the guy must be allright, because my friend
introduced us and it turns outthe guy was a crook.
So what he was doing, we createdour company and what he did was
(10:02):
take uniforms, money checks andall that and writing checks to
people who were working for usand giving them uniforms and
things.
We had our own patches, but hewould put our patches on their
uniform and they were workingfor us at our sites, but he was
paying them out of his companyto get our company started.
And when I found out he wasdoing all this stuff, I told him
no thanks, you know you.
(10:23):
You know you go your way, I'llgo mine.
But he, um he, that wasn't goodenough for him.
So he started harassing us andcausing a whole bunch of stuff.
And my wife kept telling me youknow, just just be patient, you
know, have your day in court.
They didn't have, um uh, lawsagainst harassment and things
like that, because he didn'tactually do anything to us?
yeah, he was just calling us anddriving around the house and
(10:43):
acting crazy, but but, um, hethreatened my son one night, uh,
and I and he, um, my son was 15at the time and he threatened
my son and one day my son didn'tcome home from school.
So the kind of mindset that Iwas in after all this stress
dealing with this guy, I thoughthe had my son.
So I got some guys together andI got rented two cars and they
(11:04):
went in one car and I was inanother car and we went back and
forth from the job, the officewe had in Gatorsburg, to his
house in Fairfax, back and forth, and we were talking by cell
phone trying to figure out wherehe was, because wherever he was
we were going to get him.
Wow, because I just snapped andsaid this is it, I'm not living
like this anymore.
Right, I just snapped and saidthis is it, I'm not living like
(11:25):
this anymore.
So my wife kept saying leave italone, let the law handle it.
But I wasn't cut out.
Chuck (11:30):
I got to you by that time .
You're from Dean Town.
Go ahead.
Mr. Eric Sims (11:36):
One of the scenes in my life with Lamar Thomas
was Neighborhood Bullying.
Standing up to Lamar Thomas wasa big deal and I was that way.
You're not going to push mearound, you might beat me, you
might kill me, whatever.
But I don't run Because in theprojects, my attitude in the
projects, if you run once you'llbe, running for the rest of
your life.
So I don't run, I don't backdown.
(11:56):
He was a bully and again, theface I put on was Lamar Thomas
and we're not having this Right.
So basically, long story short,we had a confrontation in
Fairfax Parkway, out in Fairfax,and because I don't want to
sound like I'm boasting now,this is all God's grace I got
(12:16):
you.
But because I'm a better shotand I'm ambidextrous, I'm
even-handed.
You're both hands Right, we'reboth hands and I'm even-handed,
I can shoot right with bothhands and I'm firing this guy
from both sides of the car andbasically I hit him.
I thought I killed him.
I actually honestly thought Ikilled him and he slumped over
and he went off the road and Iwent on back home, bought some
(12:37):
Chinese and went home and atedinner like nothing happened.
And that's just how callous andindifferent I was about life,
about anything.
He was a threat to my existence, he was a threat to my way of
life and I wasn't having itRight.
So basically, he lied and toldthe police that I was the one
that shot him.
There's no way he could haveseen me.
It was dark and I wasn'tdriving my own.
All my cars have beendistinctive.
(12:58):
You can spot a car that I drovea mile away.
So I couldn't use my own car,so I rented a car.
And so the thing is, he lied tothe police and said that I was
the one.
But they came and got me andarrested me and the Bureau of
Alcohol, tobacco and Firearmstook me from Gaithersburg,
(13:19):
Maryland, where we were living,over to Baltimore and put me in
an underground dungeon and therewas no light.
I mean there was lights, noclock, no windows, the cell,
that when we get to the placethere's a desk sergeant there
and the two ATF agents had mehandcuffed and standing in front
of this desk and the desksergeant said why are you
bringing this man here?
And he said well, we want tobring him here because we want
(13:41):
him close to the court.
And the man said well, there'sa whole lot of places you could
have taken them that are closerto court than this.
Why are you bringing them here?
So now my antenna is going up.
You know if the man is runningto jail, he's asking why they
bring me here.
Chuck (13:53):
I'm kind of wondering what's going on.
Mr. Eric Sims (13:56):
So they take me in the cell and the cell had
metal walls between the cell butthere were bars in the front.
So, they put me in the cell hadmetal walls between the cells
but there were bars in the front.
So they put me in the cell andI'm in this bare cell.
There's a bare metal shelfthat's supposed to be a bed, but
there's no mattress on it, nobed linen, no clothes, no sheets
to spread anything, no hygienegoods, no washcloth, anything.
(14:21):
Just a sink commode combinationand a bare shelf.
And it was cold.
So I had a choice I could keepmy little tracksuit jacket on to
keep warm or I could roll it upand make a pillow out of it to
sleep on this bare shelf.
So I'm doing this for a while.
The first two days there was aguy next to me and we were
talking across the bars to eachother.
He was from Baltimore.
We were talking back and forthand I was keeping it together
(14:43):
like that because the only timeyou knew what time it was, when
the guy brought the food around,you'd ask him what time it was
and that was it.
Otherwise the lights on all thetime.
You can't tell day from night.
You don't know what time you'rejust there.
So they're all the way overthere.
They emphasize we can keep youfor three, and if we can't.
If we're not satisfied, we cango before a judge and get you to
(15:04):
stay in that cell.
Stay here for longer than threedays, but you're going to be
here at least three days.
So it kept emphasizing threedays, right?
So the first two days I'm okay,because the guys next to me, at
least I got some company totalk to.
But then on the end of thesecond day they took him out.
So I'm there by myself, so'm inthis cell and and I keep having
(15:25):
these visions satan is tellingme to commit suicide, kill
yourself, because, because theman got your son and you kill
him and you're never going toget out of this situation, the
only way you can get out of hereis to kill yourself.
So I'm in this cell by myselfand the devil and I'm convinced
it was the devil and and then hestarted focusing my attention
on a piece of glass in thecorner of the cell.
(15:46):
Wow, and this maximum securitycell where they take everything
from you, including the littlestring that ties around your
waist for the tracksuit.
They even took the string in myshoestrings out of my sneakers,
right, right.
So this is a maximum securityplace, but yet there was about a
two-inch Coke bottle, a pieceof a Coke bottle or Pepsi, I
(16:06):
couldn't tell which one, but itwas a two-inch piece of glass in
the cell.
And he kept fixating myattention on that cell, on that
glass in that cell, and he keptsaying kill yourself, kill
yourself.
And I started having thesevisions from above, myself in
the cell and looking down on mydead body with a pool of blood
all around me.
Wow, he kept bombarding me withthat image over and over and
(16:27):
over again.
So after a while I got to thepoint where I couldn't take it
anymore.
I turned to the back of thecell, raised my hands, crying
out to the Lord, tears streamingdown my face, and I just asked
the Lord, please help me, saveme, because only you can deliver
me from this.
So I'm crying and I'm allworked up and I had my hands in
the air and then suddenly thisgiant hand grabbed my right hand
(16:50):
.
Wow, and I didn't.
I never opened my eyes.
I was afraid to open my eyes,really.
Chuck (16:54):
But you could feel it.
Mr. Eric Sims (16:56):
I could feel this .
This big hand grabbed my handand led me around to the bed and
that metal shelf.
Then I sat down and he sat downbeside me and I leaned into his
chest and perfect peace cameover me, perfect peace.
He never spoke, but he said.
The feeling I got in my spiritwas everything's gonna be okay,
you're gonna be fine, and that'sand that's when I've been here.
(17:19):
This is like something.
Uh, it's early september's, um,memorial day, no labor day,
which's the end of the summer,memorial Day, the first, second
or third day of September, andit was a weekend.
So I don't know which day itwas, but it was the last day of
that holiday weekend.
What year was that?
This was 1991.
Wow.
And so the next morning I wokethose off to sleep and the next
(17:43):
morning I hear all these cellsopening and all this clanging
and stuff and the ATF agents.
They was all dressed in blacktactical gear and face shields
and all this stuff when theyarrested me.
Now they all in their nicesuits with cologne and all that
smelling good and walk up to theboss.
Mr Sims, how was your weekend?
I said my weekend was fine.
How was yours you?
Chuck (18:04):
didn't expect them to go that way.
Mr. Eric Sims (18:06):
No, they looked back at each other like you
wouldn't expect this, you know.
So they take me over to themagistrate and the magistrate
told me charges against me andall that.
It was bad.
It was really bad.
And told me charges against me.
But at the end I said yourHonor, may I speak?
He said, yes, sir, go ahead.
And I told him they took me tothis place and I described it no
(18:30):
bed linen, no mattress, nohygiene products.
I didn't have a chance to evenwash up or take a shower or
anything.
And they held me there forthree days like that.
And I said your Honor, if Ihave to go back to jail, please
don't let him send me back tothat place.
And he just went off.
He said you shouldn't havetaken him there.
I'm commanding you right now totake this man up to Montgomery
(18:50):
County Detention Center and donot take him back to that place.
I never had figured out wherethat place was, but I always
felt like Nelson Mandela one daywas trying to figure out where
it was.
Go back and take a look at it.
But it was underground.
Take a look at it.
Chuck (19:01):
But it was on the ground.
Mr. Eric Sims (19:02):
Right, they were driving so fast and they took me
on the ground.
But the last thing I did beforeI left that cell was take that
piece of glass and scratch the23rd Psalm in that wall for
memory.
I grew up in church and Iremember that and I tell people
that's like breadcrumbs, becausewhen I got lost I knew how to
find my way back because of allthose things I learned in Sunday
school and church and my motherand my grandmother taught me
(19:25):
and that's how I found the Lordand I've been his ever since.
Wow.
Chuck (19:30):
So it's important to grow up around that, because if you
find yourself in a position likeyou were in, you could find,
like you said, your way backhome.
Find your way back home.
There you go.
I like that.
Mr. Eric Sims (19:42):
You know, I can't call myself the prodigal son in
a sense, because I was raisedin the church.
I got you and I even wentforward and accepted Christ and
got baptized and promptly leftthe church for 20-something
years.
But the Lord, he's always there.
He's always been there for me.
I did my 10 years in prison.
It gave me 17 years, since I hadto do 10 years of mandatory and
(20:05):
that wasn't easy, but I got myassociate's degree.
While I was incarcerated, I meta lot of good brothers,
including the one I'm talking tohere.
Yeah, shout out to you.
Chuck (20:16):
You know what, when I first met you, we was in Roanoke
, virginia, camp 25.
Camp 25, bata, tide, blue RidgeMountains yes, sir, bata.
Mr. Eric Sims (20:25):
Tide, blue Ridge Mountains there you go yeah.
Yeah, I remember those dayswell, wow, and the Lord is good.
He was good to me throughoutthat whole thing, wow, and I can
tell you some stories aboutduring my time of incarceration.
But the bottom line is he wasfaithful to me all those 10
years and I was faithful to himand he was faithful to me and I
(20:47):
ate that Bible.
I had a Schofield referenceBible and that's my most
precious possession.
I wore that thing out.
I'm scared to move it, take itanywhere now because it's all
falling apart.
But I wore it out and it keptme.
It kept me and so when I cameback out it was just like
another day.
I thought, lord, they let me go.
What am I going to do now?
I was an electronics technician, been off the street 10 years.
(21:09):
I couldn't go back to that.
But he opened doors for me whenI first came home.
My cousin Charles got me workingin a place that delivered
newspapers and magazines and Iwas catching cash.
It was cash and go.
You know, they paid you.
You know, by, by, at the end ofthe week, pay your cash, kind
(21:29):
of thing.
And um, so my pro-losser saidyou got to get a job where they
give you a paycheck, a paycheckand a pay stub and all that.
They take out taxes and stuff.
Oh, you're going back.
I said, well, I'm not goingback.
So they had, um a job, say.
I came home to live in mymother's basement.
I lost everything my wife, myhouse, my car, everything.
I came back home with $75 and abus ticket to Richmond and I
(21:52):
had to pay the difference fromRichmond to DC myself.
And I got off that bus withnothing but the prison jumpsuit,
the prison jeans, the shirtthat I had and the money to get.
Not much you know.
So adding the money to get you?
Yeah, yeah, not much you know.
So my mother offered me to livein her basement.
So I got me a little spot inher basement and the Lord was
good to me and she was about,and, miss Ember, was you the
(22:12):
whole time.
Okay, yeah, he was all Momvisited.
I think if they had sent me tothe moon, mom would have found a
way to visit me, me on the move.
And one of the things she toldme one time when I visited.
They sent me to about half adozen different institutions.
Camp 25 was next to the lastone.
I was released from.
And she told me everywhere I go,when I visit you, the staff,
(22:33):
even the assistant warden, callsyou Mr Sims, and I said, really
, ma?
And she said, yeah, they alwaysrefer to you Mr Sims, not 2-1,
bob, that's not me.
What happened was God is usingme and I'm working according to
his will, doing what he wants meto do, and people see that and
(22:55):
that's what they.
It's not me, it's the Christ inme that they see and I'm living
and eventually I end up writinga book about that.
But the bottom line is you canlive an honorable life serving
the Lord, even behind bars.
And the thing of it all is, ifyou're serving him behind bars,
when that day comes for you toleave you'll be just another day
, and for me it was just anotherday.
(23:16):
There you go.
I don't know where I'm going, Idon't know what's in front of
me, but I have a savior who'salready over there and already
has it worked out, and that'swhat.
That's what I, when I do jailand prison ministry and happy
houses and stuff you still doingthat.
Yes, sir, I've been doing thatsince 2005 or so.
Wow, I got.
(23:36):
I got what I call a get out ofjail free pass.
I got a jail ID that lets me goin and out of the jail.
And people in the status blocks, you know, like segregated
housing and all that kind ofstuff, because they can't come
out to the services, so I takethe service to them.
But the thing is and one of mythings is, I tell them that the
(24:00):
Lord allows us to get in theseboxes, but he never puts the top
on the box.
You can always look up to himand you're not in that cell by
yourself, and so this is anopposite, and I'm telling you
this from experience.
I met the Lord himself in thatsituation like that, and you can
be introduced to him too, ifyou desire.
You can go left and keepgetting what you've been getting
(24:21):
, or you can turn right and keepstraight.
Chuck (24:23):
This is a choice.
This is a choice.
Mr. Eric Sims (24:25):
This is a choice, so, so, so.
So the thing is, when I got outI lived my mother's basement.
Mom was about to lose her housebecause she she climbed the
chair and broke her ankle andhad to put pins in it so she
couldn't work and she saw itfalling behind in the mortgage.
She's like three months behindin a mortgage by when got home,
but she still, let me live withit.
(24:45):
I got one decent job and theneventually I got a job as a
contractor, driving a bus fromMontgomery County as a contract
bus driver, and I did that forthree years and then I got a job
with the county for two years.
And so, after 10 years in prison, we were looking around trying
to figure out how to save thehouse, how to years.
And so, after 10 years inprison, we were looking around
(25:06):
trying to figure out how to savethe house.
How to save the house, the Lordsent me to a man named Ralph
Patrick who was a mortgagebanker with SunTrust Mortgage,
and he said he's a Christian.
And he said, mr and Mrs Sim,we're going to find a way to get
you a mortgage.
And he pulled out all the stuff, he did everything and he
finally got us a mortgage and Ihave to say he's a white man,
but he's a good guy and he didit.
(25:28):
So I got the.
I'm actually living in mymother's house, but the house is
in my name and I still call itMa's house because it's Ma's
house.
So we kept that house until Mapassed.
Wow.
Chuck (25:43):
The.
Mr. Eric Sims (25:43):
Thing is that job .
The contract job led to afull-time job as a county
operator.
I worked that job for two yearsas a bus operator.
Then a job in customer serviceopened up and they gave me that
job.
Then that job led to a job as asupervisor.
Then after that I worked aswhat they call an acting chief
(26:04):
and then they made me chief.
Chief is the top job of thedepot and when I left I tell
people my first job I was making$6.25.
I was making $6.25.
When I retired as a chief, Iwas making six figures and I had
(26:24):
a $42 million annual budget and300 people reporting to me.
And this is with a convictedfelon, with a criminal
conviction, and the Lord has away of opening doors that no man
can shut and he can shut doorsthat no man can open and I'm
living proof that that's a fact.
And the bottom line is I didn'tgo around with a sandwich board
saying convicted criminal or Idid this, that and the other,
but the people who needed toknow knew Our personnel
(26:45):
department people like that knew.
But the rest of it, that's justbetween me and the Lord and I
honored them with that position.
I got a corner office where Iparked my car in the spot that
says chief, and I walk up threeor four steps into my own office
with three windows around and awindow on the inside.
Yeah, I actually had threewindows because the other one
(27:05):
was my little storage area, so Ihad three windows around it and
I parked my car right out infront and I honored the Lord
because I'm in a position tomake decisions that my
predecessor, the woman that Ireplaced, would not make.
People have problems and thingslike that.
Right, the first thing alwayswhen you're in that kind of a
position, you tell them to go toyour supervisor.
(27:26):
If the supervisor can't work itout, then you come to me,
because I can't spend all mydays dealing with all those kind
of things.
That's what I got supervisorsfor, if I had like 14
supervisors or whatever it wasand the bus operator used to go
to the supervisor, but sometimesthe supervisor didn't get it
right and they would come to me.
My mother's died, my father'sdied in Africa and I got to go
home for however many days,because when you spend money
(27:48):
like that to go to Africa, it'sexpensive and they don't want to
go and come right back.
They want to stay for a whileand I understand that and I
would do that because I'm in aposition to do that.
See, the Lord wants me in thatposition because he wants me to
do the right thing.
You see, and we have rules andwe understand that.
We got policies.
We understand that.
But because of me in thatposition, I can do things within
(28:11):
the policy to honor the personand do the right thing and still
be consistent with the policyAbsolutely.
Instead of being mean andhard-hearted with people, I
treat people right, absolutely.
I never lock my car.
I don't do that.
Chuck (28:24):
My predecessor, keep the blinds open and lock the car and
all that.
Mr. Eric Sims (28:31):
But you see, I treat people right going up.
Chuck (28:33):
So if I have to, come back down.
Mr. Eric Sims (28:34):
I'm going to meet the same people.
Chuck (28:36):
I like that.
Mr. Eric Sims (28:38):
I had a guy one time I'm walking down, it's my
wife and.
I walking in Target together.
And this guy said Coach, hecame up and I greeted him.
He spoke to me, shook hands andkept on walking.
And my wife said he said thaty'all fired him because he had a
sick mother and father.
And I said sweetheart, that'snot real, that's really not what
happened.
Because I know better, I can'treveal his business to her but
(29:00):
that's not what happened.
So the thing of it all is, evenpeople that had the discipline
knew that I was discipliningthem because they deserve to be
disciplined.
You don't cuss people out.
You don't fail to let thekneeler or the ramp out on the
bus and have some senior citizencrawl up on the bus on their
hands and knees because you'retoo stupid to hit the switch and
let them down.
You don't do those kinds ofthings.
(29:21):
You don't mess with the camerason the bus.
The cameras are there for yoursecurity and the security of
people on the bus.
You cover up the camera.
I got to discipline you.
You don't take a 40-foot busflying a 40-foot bus past a
school bus with the stop sign on, with the lights flashing and
the arm out because you couldkill somebody's kid.
So I'm sorry, you know you getthree days home for that.
I'm sorry, you know, because Ineed to let you know you can't
(29:44):
keep doing that kind of stuff.
The the first time I'm willingto cut you some slack, but the
second and third time I'm sorry.
You got to go all the way, youknow, and that's what I was.
But again, I meet these peoplefrom time to time, you know.
Like I say probably thousandsof people have my phone number.
I've never changed my phonenumber, so all these people that
I deal with, they know that Ihad the discipline.
(30:05):
Discipline is not my firstchoice.
My first choice is right.
It's not.
Discipline is not my firstchoice.
My first choice is right is totalk to you and try to counsel
with you and that kind of thing.
But if you keep doing the sameold thing and knowing that what
you're doing is wrong, I'm sorry.
You know you got to go theother way.
You're not leaving me with awhole lot of choice here,
because if you kill somebody'skid, first of all they're going
(30:26):
to deal with you first.
But right after they deal withyou they're going to come to see
me and I don't want to be in aposition to have to defend
something like that wheneverybody knows that you're
going to stop for a school busbefore the lights come on.
The process is the school busslows down, turns on the yellow
light and then stops and turnson the red light.
So if you're smart, as soon asthey turn on the yellow lights
(30:48):
you'll stop.
You won't try to beat themturning on the red lights.
You'll stop for the yellowlight because that's the safe
thing to do.
And again, you're being paidfor every second that you're
behind the wheel.
So there's no rush.
You know you don't have to.
You're not really savinganything by flying by the school
bus.
It doesn't make any sense andthat was my big issue right
there the school bus and thenpeople being rude and
disrespectful to passengers.
(31:09):
And I tell them all the timesometimes the best thing to say
is nothing.
You're under no obligation togo tit for tat with people.
If people want to be rude anddisrespectful and ugly and want
to start arguing, just cut itoff.
Sir ma'am, please take a seat.
Have a good day, keep it movingyou know this is just common
(31:30):
sense to me, but a lot of peoplewill get all caught up in it,
you know.
And then I think you've seenpeople get stabbed and stuff
over the fare.
You know People don't realizethat 90% of the fare on a bus is
already covered, either federalor state money.
So the company you're payingfor when they put that money in
the box, the company's onlygetting like 10% of that money.
So why are you going to make anissue of the fare?
(31:50):
I tell them, you let them knowand let it go, you inform and
then forget it.
Sir ma'am, the fare's whateverit is.
If they refuse to pay, that'sfine.
Have a seat, take a seat andkeep on going.
But I've seen people go tit fortat with people.
Next thing, you know, guy'scoming up front with a knife to
stab them, you know, and thatkind of stuff.
Or pull a gun out or wait foryou.
(32:11):
Every day I explain to them thatyou're on a route, you're on a
fixed route, on a fixed schedule.
So every day at that same time,they know they're going to see
you at that spot.
So think about this for asecond.
If you know this, why would youwant to provoke somebody to do
(32:36):
you harm if you know if theydon't get you today, they can
wait till tomorrow or the nextday or the next week.
But they know you're going tobe at that spot.
So why would you do that toyourself?
To yourself, not to the company, to yourself, why would you do
that?
But I have people that have tosit down and talk to them and
explain to them how the worldworks, you know, and they just
figure the world revolves aroundme and I'm sorry but it doesn't
.
You know it's a big's a bigworld.
You can't make it about you.
It's not about you, it's aboutthe service.
You know you represent acompany and if you want to have
your own bus company, you knowit's my job to help you.
(32:57):
You know, find that opportunity, gotcha, gotcha.
And I would do that sometimes.
It wasn't my favorite thing todo.
You know I don't like firingpeople.
You know people gotta pay rentand keep a roof over their head
and food in their stomach andtake care of their family.
I don't like seeing people outof a job.
But if you just don't want todo it, then you know I don't
have a choice.
I can find somebody that can.
(33:18):
I always have more peopleapplying for a job than have
positions to fill.
So you know, if you don't wantto do it, I can get somebody
else to do it.
You know I give you a try.
You know I give you a shot.
But you know we can't have youout there hurting people and
being rude to people and causingaccidents and all that kind of
stuff.
We just can't do it, we can'tafford it.
Wow.
So, but the Lord gave me thatkind of wisdom and I was.
(33:40):
I had fun doing it, I really did.
It was the most stressful thingI've ever had, because my phone
, you know, but if they have anaccident or fatality or
something, I'm the first callthey make.
You know I got to be there or Ianswer the call and tell them
what to do.
You know, make sure all thereports are done and the
post-accident drug test and allthat stuff gets done.
But he put me there because heknew I could do the job and I
(34:04):
appreciate it.
I got my bachelor's degree.
It's part of that process, youknow.
I had that bachelor's degree inorder to get to apply for the
job and I just trusted the lordand he got me that you know, my
mother got sick and ended uppassing away and I had to take
tests and things like thatduring that time and I, I feel I
think it was two classes, Ifeel because I was dealing with
(34:25):
that and the lord had me take amove again and I passed with a.
I ended with like a 3.5 orsomething overall GPA.
And you know, I was on thehonor roll twice and, like I say
, the Lord opens doors and Ijust walked through the doors
that he opened and that's beenmy life and I retired.
We had COVID.
(34:46):
My wife and I got COVID inApril 2020, and we were
quarantined in the house.
My wife and I got COVID inApril 2020, and we were
quarantined in-house my wife andme.
My brother lives in ourbasement and my nephew, my
brother's son, and we were allquarantined in-house all the
month of April 2020.
And that's as sick as I've everbeen in my entire life.
I honestly didn't think I wasgoing to make it, but my wife
(35:07):
nursed me back.
She wasn't in that good shapeherself, but she nursed me back.
I couldn't even eat a spoonfulof chicken noodle soup or a sip
of water.
I mean, I couldn't keepanything down.
I couldn't breathe.
I mean it was horrible, but theLord brought us all out.
All of us are still here andI've had COVID three times.
(35:29):
The second two wasn't as bad asthe first, but I've had it
three times and every time itgets easier than these.
So next time COVID rings thedoorbell, we just tell her to go
next door because we're donewith it.
You know, and church, you knowwe missed.
That was the only time I missedchurch.
I'm on the audio video team inour church and I'm a trustee and
(35:50):
a minister, and I do.
You know I wear a lot ofdifferent hats, but it's all in
service to the Lord.
I'll do anything he wants me todo.
Anytime he asks me, I'm aboutthat, and so that's what we do.
And you know, some peoplelisten and some don't, but it's
not my job to do that.
I'm a seed sower.
I just sow the seed and it'sthe Lord who decides what kind
(36:10):
of seed, what kind of soil theseed ends up in.
That's not my job.
My job is just to sow the seed.
Got you and I love doing it.
I love talking about him.
He's my favorite subject.
Chuck (36:23):
Wow, I appreciate you sharing your journey, Mr Sims.
Mr. Eric Sims (36:26):
I really do, man.
Thank you for doing that man.
Chuck (36:30):
Thank you for the opportunity, Absolutely as we
close, and I appreciate you.
As we close, tell the listeningaudience who is Mr Sims today.
How would you describe yourselfas we close, Mr Sims?
Mr. Eric Sims (36:43):
isa, christian man who loves the Lord, and I'm
fully a part and fully involvedin our community here in DC.
And I'm definitely black andand fully involved in our
community here in DC, and I'mdefinitely black and going to be
black and don't have any choicein that and that's fine.
But my attitude is, no matterwhat color you are, no matter
where you're from, what yourcircle says Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth and the life, andno man comes to the Father
(37:05):
except through him.
And that's my story and he'sbeen good to me, he's been good
to us, my wife and me and we'reliving the best life we've ever
had before because of him.
It was all because of him.
Chuck (37:20):
Amazing.
Well, thank you, man, for beingon and sharing your unique
journey, your own unique story,and I'm quite sure somebody's
out there going to hear this andgoing to be inspired by what
you're saying through yourjourney.
I really appreciate you.
Mr Sims, thank you for being on, let's Just.
Talk About it podcast.
I really appreciate it again.
Mr. Eric Sims (37:39):
Yes, sir, and thank you for the opportunity.
You be blessed you too.
Chuck (37:42):
Thank you.
Mr. Eric Sims (37:43):
All right, sir, bye-bye.
Chuck (37:47):
Wow, what an amazing conversation today.
Shout out to you to you, mrSims, for having this dialogue
with me and for sharing yourjourney and wisdom with the
world, and I want to thankeveryone for always tuning in to
let's just talk about itpodcast and if you have any
media needs, such as videographyand photography, you can reach
out to me and my partner LowMills at MMB Media.
So, as always, until next time,don't hold it in, but let's
(38:11):
just talk about it.
Talk to you soon, thank you,you.
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