Tard strength
Six or seven years ago, I was installing a system in the middle of Iowa, at a company who had a group of local learning disabled people assembling parts. Now this company, who, in my mind, had a lot of heart to employ the disabled, and had a couple of people on staff to see to their needs.
The handler, who drove the bus around to their homes to pick them up, take them back home, and wrangled them on the job, was a small wiry woman who was, in my mind, a real gem. She cautioned me against Tard Strength more than once- seemed she had lots of experiences trying to prevent one or another form harming themselves/each other, and in the process of doing so, had to deal with almost superhuman strength.
So as I was finishing up the job, one of the workers had taken a shine to me, a hulking big guy, maybe 50, who thought I was IT. I don’t think it was anything, er, odd, he just thought I was cool because I made the big yellow robot move. Anyway, as I was walking out the door for the last time, the handler lady came to me and asked me if it would be ok if this guy could give me a hug. I figured, hell, what could it hurt. Little did I know.
Anyway, this guy wanders over and wraps his arms around me. For an awful moment I feared he would kiss me, but he didn’t, he just grabbed me and squeezed like a ninety foot boa constrictor. I felt ribs overlap one another, all the wind was blown out of my lungs, and I am confident I could feel my heart beating directly against my spleen. THis lasted for only a brief time, before my admirer shyly turned away and wealked back to his workstation, waving at me over his shoulder.
I was unable to move for a moment or two, but when I did manage to draw breath again I breathed so deeply that I am pretty sure I sprained a rib or four. I’m glad I didn’t let him shake my hand.
I’ve heard of that before, that often someone who’s mentally handicapped more than makes up for it with physical strength.
Good thing he was a friendly sort.
As long as he can quit you, you’ll be fine.
Yeah, but you left with that warm glow…
OR shake anything else for that matter…. Good grief!
Disabled or not, he seems like a good judge of character.
Fanuc robot, by the way?
INdeed. Fanuc robots are my gig.
I recall my friend telling me a story his father (we’ll call him Bob) had relayed to him about a mentally-challenged student he went to school with. It seems Bob had given the student too much ribbing about his handicap, and the student told him that he would see him on the playground after school. Bob laughed, of course. How hard could it be to beat up a handicapped boy? Worst beating of his life, he said. The kid was as strong as an ox and beat him black and blue.
I’ve never had first hand experience, but I have heard of this before.
Mongoloids can be a dangerous creature. I heard of one going bonkers and killing it’s case worker while the case worker was tending to it at a local institution.
Call one a tard or a mongoloid once and watch the amazing show it puts on. Just hope you can run faster than it. Remember there is also something known as “tard speed”, too!