‘It all started back in junior high school. I was going out with this one girl and her parents bought her a horse.’

The scenery is beautiful, his customers are always “up,” and he is in charge of his surroundings--so Greg Williams may have the perfect job. Williams has toured parts of San Diego’s downtown and waterfront areas with newlyweds, tourists, birthday and anniversary celebrants, and people just wanting to do something out of the ordinary. Williams, a 37-year-old downtown San Diego resident, has worked as a driver for Cinderella Carriage Co. for five years. While his horse and carriage may seem out of place in this 20th-Century urban setting, it is romantic and inviting, and he enjoys making the people he drives so happy. Dozens of times, he has been the first to hear of a couple’s engagement and see the presenting of the ring. Williams grew up in Detroit, which he says is “a nice place to be from.” He worked for a time as a car salesman and was owner of an advertising firm in Toronto. Williams admits it’s quite a switch to go from that high-powered world to the horse and carriage, but he is glad he made the change. He was interviewed by Times staff writer Kathie Bozanich and photographed by Times staff photographer Barbara Martin.

I came upon this job. I was out looking for one, and I happened to walk past these two beautiful carriages in this garage. I walked inside to admire them because they are gorgeous. I talked to the owner of the company, and it just so happened that one of their drivers had quit. It’s one of those stories of being in the right place at the right time.

I’m from a horse background. It all started back in junior high school. I was going out with this one girl and her parents bought her a horse.

If I wanted to be with her, I had to learn about horses. I used to go with her on the weekends to take care of her horse, and then I got more and more involved in it. Eventually I bought myself a horse. Once you get the bug it’s kind of hard to get rid of it.

When I got the job I had only been in San Diego for a few weeks. I had no fathom whatsoever about if and where there were horses in this city. I had no idea I’d even come across something like this.

I am an ambassador for the city. If I can help (my customers) in anyway in making their stay here pleasant, I’ll do it. I have to know about the city’s history, different buildings, all those things a tour guide needs to know.

I never get tired of my job. What other job can you go by the bay and watch the boats coming in and see the lights on the water? What other job is there where people are always in a good mood, nobody’s ever negative. It’s just a really good atmosphere to be around.

It’s a step back in time. I listen to the clippety-clop of the horses on the pavement, the harness and the leather, the boats sloshing at the dock. All of a sudden I hear a plane take off from the airport and it takes me back to the 20th Century.

I was kind of hesitant to take the job when it was first offered to me because I was a car salesman. That’s a high-pressure job. I was always on the go, wheeling and dealing, never off work. I thought, “Well, I’ll do this for a year, and find out what’s going on.” I just liked it so much I’m still doing it.

I like to see the expression on people’s faces when they ask me what I do for a living. There are very few people that do what I do.

The first time people see the carriages they get the idea that all the driver has to do is sit there and not do anything.

Even though it may look like I’m sitting up there relaxed, my mind’s constantly on my surroundings. Driving a horse is not the hard part, it’s paying attention to what’s going on around you. You don’t sit back and wait for something to happen. Paper or glass on the street, people running up to the horses, potholes, someone running a light--you have to anticipate anything that could spook the horse.