And not a moment too soon! I’m afraid that I’ve been caught up in the ‘Dull Drums’ of summer! The sun beating down on me, and, more often than not, rain. Day after long dreary day suffering the unending bastinado of the reluctant wage slave, accompanied always by the somnolent throb of a big Cat engine; I’d write it all off as a bad dream, except, try as I might, I could never fall asleep!
I did try upon occasion. One hot day I was caught up in the repetitive tedium of working for a half an hour, then sitting and waiting for a truck with more raw material, (not only was it repetitive, but, it happened over and over again!). It was what I call a ‘three knuckle’ day; any worker will occasionally find him/her self standing around with his/her finger up his ass, but, it’s a dull day when you have time to get all three knuckles up there. So, I wasn’t going to stand for it; instead I lay down in the bed of a pickup, and had barely closed my eyes when my boss, whom I call ‘ZZ’, not so much ‘cause he’s the ‘Top’, as the fact that I often find him catchinging ‘Z’s when his schedule isn’t too demanding. Thus began the ‘twenty questions; “What if his boss caught me?” “What if a rate-payer saw me sleeping on the job?” Finally I gave up; who can sleep under that kind of quizzical deluge?
Later that day I saw my aforementioned boss nip into the cab of the pickup and fire up the air conditioner. But, I suppose the sun beating relentlessly through the windshield onto his lap was giving him a sweaty scrotum, because it wasn’t long before he emerged briefly, to re-situate into the back seat. It wasn’t long before I saw his head slumping towards the glass in the door; for a few minutes it alternated between upright and slumped, then he settled in for a nice nap. Half an hour went by, and I didn’t dare disturb him.
Along came a local farmer in a beat up pickup. He crops 3200 acres; I know that because I talked to him extensively. I watched as he pulled alongside the company pickup, and stared inside. Finally He came to a stop by yours’ facetiously, said ‘Hello’, and enquired, “Is that guy sleeping in the back of the truck?” I explained that we had everything done that could be done prior to the arrival of more material, and changed the subject; we chatted for twenty minutes, all the time the farmer watching ‘ZZ’ catching ‘Z’s.
Finally, ‘ZZ’ shrugged off his lethargy, and, with a quick nod in our direction, scuttled off ...under a rock I suppose, ...it’s cooler there! Our Truck arrived, and work commenced in earnest. I was standing with my pals, ‘Bam-Bam’ & ‘The Green Machine’, when ‘ZZ’ approached, “What,” he demanded, “did that guy want?” As tactfully as I could, I replied, “He wanted to know who was sleeping in the back of our truck?”
I’m fascinated how different audience members respond to a good line! My pals thought this hilarious, ‘ZZ’ however, responded not with humorous appreciation, but rage! Poor me, I was subjected to a bulgy eyed lecture on the inappropriateness of sarcasm in the workplace, particularly when directed at a self-supposed superior. I was threatened with dismissal, despite my explanation that, while it might have been sarcasm, it was sarcasm from the farmer; I only conveyed the information under direct request! Some people just can’t take a joke! So, off to Beily’s next Monday, where people do have a sense of humour. I only hope that ‘ZZ’ doesn’t show up, ...nothing more distracting than someone sleeping in the audience!
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