On a Saturday in January 1951, Warren Buffett, then a 20-year-old student, took the train to Washington to visit the headquarters of the insurer GEICO. The building was closed for the weekend. He knocked on the door until a janitor appeared. The janitor directed him to Lorimer Davidson, the assistant to the president, who was working that day.
Davidson spent the afternoon explaining the insurance business to the young stranger. Buffett later wrote: “‘Davy’ graciously spent four hours or so showering me with both kindness and instruction.”