Neanderpundit

in the form of the coffee that I have denied myself for three weeks.

Ahhh.

What was it you wanted? pardon me, I need to refill my cup.

I HATESESS THE CRUEL ITCHING!!!!

in 1977. It was Benson & Hedges 100’s. I worked in a lumberyard, and my boss was Roger Strong.

He was, too. He was a tough old bastard, wizened, craggy of face, and mean of spirit. At least outwardly.

Roger was a short man, maybe 5′-6″, and had muscles in his arms like cables. He could throw lumber around that yard like nobody’s business, and did. Sometimes with an energy that shamed the younger guys. In his fifties he worked harder than most of the twentysomething guys, and he kept at it until he died, so far as I know.

For two years I worked in that lumberyard, paying for my first year of college, hanging out at the bar across the street after work. I saw the business boom and grow, and the owners prosper, but I never made any money to speak of, I was always a dime or so above minumum wage. Roger probably made a few dollars but he wasn’t there to get wealthy either, he had been a longshoreman and bad knees had driven him to semiretirement at the lumberyard.

That’s how it works, folks. THis was my first full time gig, and I made minimum wage. Had I stuck around long enough to get any better at the job than just a woodslinger, I might have made more.

As the minimum wage increased and cost of insurance etc. crept up, the business got smaller and smaller- and finally closed. I think it’s a storage warehouse now. I came away with a solid understanding of the need to better myself so I could make more cash, and a two-pack a day habit. Thirty years later, I still have that knowledge, and have thankfully thrown the monkey away.