Rock Bottom Part Three (Ready For Work) (949 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.73 on 18 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <murphydog5.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2004-07-01 17:39:27 EDT
Let me quickly recap parts one and two for new readers: Part One- fucked, no money, desperate. Part Two- scored a job at Labor Ready.
There is no guruntee for work at Labor Ready. A person willing to work simply shows up as early as possible, signs his name on the sheet, and waits for some random employer to scoop him up and wisk him away to a jobsite. I figured this out after waiting for two hours. I looked around and none of the Labor Ready "regulars" registered anything out of place. I spoke up, "so, uh... do we just wait around and hope someone picks us up?"
Pretty much all of them looked right at me like I was speaking Swahilie. One of them answered, "yulp."
After waiting for three hours, the MEAN women behind the counter piped up, "anyone have a car that can start working Monday from 3:30 pm to 12:00 am in a machine shop?" This is the equivelent of a one-line classified ad. Anyone interested and qualified, which in this case requires a vehicle, responds. I said, "yulp!"
So she prints out a "work slip" and hands it to me. All the information I need is right there. Employer address, start and stop time, who to report to, and rate of pay. After work, I get this work slip signed and then show up to Labor Ready to have them literally cash it. Their logo, no kidding, is "Work Today, Paid Today."
I entered the reception area of this company. I started to say something to the lady behind the counter and she interupted me, "you the 3:30?" I said yes I'm the three thirty. "Have a seat," she said, "there's four more of you coming."
Now it is time to introduce to you my Labor Ready characters. They all landed this job with me, and all of them are interesting and unique in their own way.
We've got Mick, the Croation man with his bottom two teeth missing. He's about forty something, speaks terrible English, and his lower lip hangs to expose his gap. Heavy smoker.
Sharon, who is allied with nobody. When we take cigarette breaks, she smokes in the corner by herself and NEVER smiles. To her, we Labor Ready temps are not friends, we are competition. We could out work her and leave her without work. Her hair is stringy and kept in a bun, she drives a dumpy old maroon Mustang, she smokes Marlboro 100's, and if she talks she complains about being screwed. She is my least favorite of the four other LRE's.
Let's call this man Chuck because I can't pronounce his real name. Chuck grew up in Ghana, West Africa, and his accent sounds a lot like Jamacain. Chuck is suprisingly resilient and always has a smile on his face. His skin is super dark and his eyes are yellow. It's hard for me to understand a lot of what Chuck says but it is so refreshing to see another LRE in the exact same position that I'm in with a smile.
And now we get to my favorite, Chris. Chris was recently released from an eight year sentence in prison for attempted murder. His hands, he says, are registered with the state as lethal weapons. I asked Chris if he can really beat some ass. With deadly cold seriousness, he said to me, looking right in to my eyes, "what I know isn't about 'beating some ass' it's about breaking people down." I got that chilly sinking feeling in my stomach when he said that. I thought to myself, be nice to Chris, be nice to Chris, don't piss Chris off, be nice to Chris. After getting to know the guy, though, he's super super nice. I can tell he's got a kind heart. He's pretty easy to read because he NEVER STOPS TALKING. He smokes a different brand of cigarettes every day and often rambles on these pipe dreams about buying everyone pizza for lunch or other simple nonsense. "They'd have to bring it in a VAN," he said, and shot two barrels of cigarette smoke out of his nostrils. Chris is fit, sort of hot, actually, with blonde hair and light eyes. During the day he scams large retail stores by switching the bar codes on different items, returning the items, and pocketing the profit. He's also a compulsive gambler and probably a pathological liar but I don't know for sure.
After waiting in the reception area, Geoff came to greet us. He said, "you guys from Labor Ready?" We all nodded. "Come with me."
He didn't even shake our hands or ask us our names. To do that, I suppose, would just take extra time.
We were then guided to the break area and he gave us all plastic glasses and flouresent orange ear plugs. He talked to all of us like we were two years old, with a smirk on his face that quite clearly read, "I am better than you. You are pathetic. I don't want to know you."
After going through a couple safety guidelines, he pointed at Chuck, the Ghandi guy. Sitting in front of Chuck was a newspaper. He said to Chuck, "what are you doing with that paper you aint gonna have any time to read it you'll be so busy, hahahaha."
After that he said, "time to work," and passed us over to Steve, the aging hippy supervisor.
More to come,
Murphy
User Reviews
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-07-02 14:57:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
what hair said.
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2004-07-02 02:47:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by antluvdog (user info) at 2004-07-01 20:19:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good luck, man.
Submitted by euripidestrousers (user info) at 2004-07-01 20:03:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by someone (user info) at 2004-07-01 19:41:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this gives me an appreciation for my job.
Submitted by hairsphincter2 (user info) at 2004-07-01 19:40:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You should be submitting this to some kind of newspaper or periodical.
And get paid.
Submitted by psyduck (user info) at 2004-07-01 19:21:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome, in that "Man I am glad this isnt me" kind of way.
+2
adam
You know, I think I would probably pay to hear the rest of these... paypal donation?
Submitted by facts (user info) at 2004-07-01 19:06:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Keep the series going, I want to meet more of societies underbelly.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:28:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Its okay Anjie, I forgive you.... this time. I'm just happy you're not a detective.
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:26:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Anjie (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:24:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yes -
Ooops, my bad. and just for the record I am not new. I've been here over a year and lurked for a long time before that! I just never thought of him that way..... oh well.
Murphy - here's an extra +2 to show you I have seen the errors of my ways....
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:10:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Anjie, a 10 second glace at his user info netted me this link: http://www.ubersite.com/m/22128
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:07:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great reading, thanks...
and Murph is GAY... jesus, WuT 4 N3WB!!11!!
Submitted by DamienX (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:06:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's like 'The Apprentice' gone wrong.
"...something inherently awesome about this series."
I totally agree, this rocks.
Submitted by Cindys_Younger_Sister (user info) at 2004-07-01 18:02:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
fuck you then, murphy. calling me at 3am
Submitted by Anjie (user info) at 2004-07-01 17:59:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This series is fun.... keep it up!
But I have a question, I thought you were a guy and straight... maybe I was wrong. It's ok for a guy to say another guy is attractive, but this...hmmm.
"Chris is fit, sort of hot, actually, with blonde hair and light eyes."
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-07-01 17:45:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
dude, there is something inherently awesome about this series.
Submitted by Cindys_Younger_Sister (user info) at 2004-07-01 17:42:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
go on messenger murph