When Desmond Lachlan, custodian at SUNY Old Westbury, walks through the campus center; greets of “Wagwan” — slang for “what’s going on” — handshakes, and a “Hey, Mr. Desmond” follow him wherever he goes.
“Students make me day,” Lachlan said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have a job. We have to be kind to them, help them where they need help. It’s part of the job.”
Lachlan, born in Trinidad and Tobago, takes pride in holding his cultural values across seas.
“Everybody was very nice — it’s in the genes,” Lachlan said. “You have to be respectful to everyone. We used to swim in the river and the sea, I have my mom and my niece there and I go back every year.”
While his joyous attitude is known by staff, students or administration, few know the man behind the smile.
“When we was working, we watched the waters, I saw the second plane going into the tower,” Lachlan said of witnessing the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. “By the time we ran upstairs, one plane already hit the tower; we didn’t know what was going on. Then we saw the next plane hit the tower.”
Lachlan immigrated here in 1993 and worked in Manhattan on the day of 9/11. His boss said that the United States was under attack. Lachlan was told to go home.
“I walked from Manhattan to Queens,” Lachlan said. “There was a lot of people crossing the Queensborough bridge. It was very sad. You didn’t even feel safe.”
Yet working in Manhattan was only one of many diverse careers Lachlan had.
“I was a rookie on the Trinidadian police force,” Lachlan said. “The salary was small, so when you check yourself, you have to move on to something better.”
After a six-month stint at another job, he switched careers again.
“Then I began working with Trinidadian aviation services for eighteen years,” he said.
While working for Trinidad and Tobago’s air carrier service, he moved between a few positions.
“I started off as a driver,” Lachlan said. “Then I was promoted, working with the airline’s mail, documents, even the government’s documents.”
In 1993 in New York, Lachlan was sponsored by his brother, received all the correct paperwork, and began his varied career path in America.
“I started working in a flower shop,” Lachlan said. “Then I worked in a restaurant, and I worked in Manhattan too, then I worked with Volkswagon.”
Despite a wide array of work, Lachlan ended up at SUNY Old Westbury by pure chance.
“I came for vacation,” Lachlan said. “But I ended up helping a girl, she needed her Volkswagen fixed.”
That Volkswagen needing repair changed the trajectory of Lachlan’s entire professional journey.
“If she had not brought it in that Saturday, she would have had to pay a lot,” Lachlan said.
Lachlan spoke to the owner of the Volkswagen as he tended her car and asked where she worked. She said: SUNY Old Westbury.
“I asked if they had any jobs available,” said Lachlan. “She told me, perhaps a custodian.”
That fateful conversation between Lachlan and the Volkswagen owner led to Lachlan’s current job.
“The first interview I got down,” Lachlan said. “By the second interview, I got the job, and I’ve been here for ten years.”
Despite his variety of jobs and memorable experiences, Lachlan maintains a positive outlook on it all.
“All my jobs were good,” Lachlan said. “I can’t damn the bridge on none of them. Every job was good.”
Lachlan has worked at SUNY Old Westbury for a decade, ensuring the halls are clean and set up for any events it needs; but it’s his last vocational stop.
“After I finish here, I’m going to retire,” Lachlan said. “It’s time to relax, lay back and visit the islands.”
As his retiring wish, Lachlan asks one thing of his successors.
“I want to leave something good, anyone coming in, I want them to enjoy SUNY Old Westbury,” Lachlan said. “And other custodians: treat the kids as good as it’s supposed to be.”
