i saw the layoff coming a mile away. as soon as i walked in, i felt like the black sheep. i was only surprised that i had been able to stay working for that company as long as i did.
Flo was the foreman. Flo, short for Florentino, was a Portugese guy from Fall River, Massachussetts, which is about an hour drive south of Boston. He had the company set up so that his whole family was working there. Everyone was a nephew or a cousin, or an in-law...... you know how that goes. The family never gets fired. Everyone else does, unless they really suck up. the only people there who weren't part of his family were the 2 company suck pumps, and the guys from the connecticut local. #24 out of New London.
I'm not the greatest worker in the world, but i always did what's expected of me. I came in on time, I had a better attendance record than anyone there. I framed with metal studs, I hung sheetrock, I installed blocking, and I did the shit work. The stuff that black guys in Philly used to refer to (when they were pissed off about their job) as the "nigger work." For most of the time, I was just stuffing fiberglass insulation into the spaces in the walls and ceilings.
Fiberglass insulation is the stuff that nobody wants to touch. It itches, it gets into your clothes, and if you don't change your dust mask at least twice a day you'll feel it build up in the back of your throat.
Garrett was the assistant foreman. He was an American of French-Canadian descent. Like me. He had no real decision making power, he just got foreman's pay because he was a suck pump and he could read blueprints. Garrett had it in for me ever since I first got there. I have no idea why. John the union steward even confirmed this later.
On my second day, I was standing still for 5 seconds and Garrett comes along and tells me "that's the worst thing you can do in this trade." So i figure he's telling me to get back to work. Taking the path of least resistance, I find something to do. 15 minutes later, Flo comes along and tells me that I shouldn't be standing around wth my hands in my pockets. Garrett made up a story and ratted me out.
Later, I find Garrett with my speed square. I take it back and he mumbles something about it just being in the job box. Of course it was in the job box, that's where everyone puts their tools at the end of the day. Today, I saw him a second time with my speed square.
"You shouldn't be walking off with other peoples tools," I tell him.
"You shouldn't be leaving it in the job box," he says to me.
"Well where the fuck else do I put them?" I snap back at him, and he looks at the floor because he knows he's a piece of shit and I caught him. It didn't matter. I was already told that tomorrow's gonna be my last day.
"Just remember to keep your head up when you walk out tomorrow, " John says to me at the end of the day.
I get into my truck in the gravel parking lot. There's still snow all over the place but the streets are plowed. The sky is grey and calm because we're expecting a snowstorm.
**********
Yes, I am laid off. I'll be fine. Thanx, but don't mention it. This isn't the first layoff and it won't be the last. I can collect unemployment and I could use a little time to relax.
********
Last time I mentioned something about being of Sicilian descent, this time it's French-Canadian. So to avoid confusion I will list all the ethnicities that I can document heritage from in the past 3 or 4 generations. Sicilian, French-Canadian, Irish, German, Swedish, and a little bit English and Blackfoot (Native American) that come with the French-Canadian.
I almost splurged $30 on a lifesize Betty Page cut out. I got a sample of the master copy of my zine in the mail today and they will start printing shortly!
Has anybody ever heard of Rusty Brown? It's a comic done by this guy Chris Ware. It's the darkest most depressing humor in any comic ever. They used to print it in the Philadelphia City paper, but it got pulled because it was too dark and depressing for a public audience. It's about a kid whose dad runs out on him, and everybody picks on him at school, and then it shows his adult life when he's 40 and doesn't work or have a girlfriend and lives with his mom and collects toys. It's drawn in 20s style comic art. I tried to find the graphic novels today (acme comics), but it's out of print and Sarge's comics in New London is all out.
Flo was the foreman. Flo, short for Florentino, was a Portugese guy from Fall River, Massachussetts, which is about an hour drive south of Boston. He had the company set up so that his whole family was working there. Everyone was a nephew or a cousin, or an in-law...... you know how that goes. The family never gets fired. Everyone else does, unless they really suck up. the only people there who weren't part of his family were the 2 company suck pumps, and the guys from the connecticut local. #24 out of New London.
I'm not the greatest worker in the world, but i always did what's expected of me. I came in on time, I had a better attendance record than anyone there. I framed with metal studs, I hung sheetrock, I installed blocking, and I did the shit work. The stuff that black guys in Philly used to refer to (when they were pissed off about their job) as the "nigger work." For most of the time, I was just stuffing fiberglass insulation into the spaces in the walls and ceilings.
Fiberglass insulation is the stuff that nobody wants to touch. It itches, it gets into your clothes, and if you don't change your dust mask at least twice a day you'll feel it build up in the back of your throat.
Garrett was the assistant foreman. He was an American of French-Canadian descent. Like me. He had no real decision making power, he just got foreman's pay because he was a suck pump and he could read blueprints. Garrett had it in for me ever since I first got there. I have no idea why. John the union steward even confirmed this later.
On my second day, I was standing still for 5 seconds and Garrett comes along and tells me "that's the worst thing you can do in this trade." So i figure he's telling me to get back to work. Taking the path of least resistance, I find something to do. 15 minutes later, Flo comes along and tells me that I shouldn't be standing around wth my hands in my pockets. Garrett made up a story and ratted me out.
Later, I find Garrett with my speed square. I take it back and he mumbles something about it just being in the job box. Of course it was in the job box, that's where everyone puts their tools at the end of the day. Today, I saw him a second time with my speed square.
"You shouldn't be walking off with other peoples tools," I tell him.
"You shouldn't be leaving it in the job box," he says to me.
"Well where the fuck else do I put them?" I snap back at him, and he looks at the floor because he knows he's a piece of shit and I caught him. It didn't matter. I was already told that tomorrow's gonna be my last day.
"Just remember to keep your head up when you walk out tomorrow, " John says to me at the end of the day.
I get into my truck in the gravel parking lot. There's still snow all over the place but the streets are plowed. The sky is grey and calm because we're expecting a snowstorm.
**********
Yes, I am laid off. I'll be fine. Thanx, but don't mention it. This isn't the first layoff and it won't be the last. I can collect unemployment and I could use a little time to relax.
********
Last time I mentioned something about being of Sicilian descent, this time it's French-Canadian. So to avoid confusion I will list all the ethnicities that I can document heritage from in the past 3 or 4 generations. Sicilian, French-Canadian, Irish, German, Swedish, and a little bit English and Blackfoot (Native American) that come with the French-Canadian.
I almost splurged $30 on a lifesize Betty Page cut out. I got a sample of the master copy of my zine in the mail today and they will start printing shortly!
Has anybody ever heard of Rusty Brown? It's a comic done by this guy Chris Ware. It's the darkest most depressing humor in any comic ever. They used to print it in the Philadelphia City paper, but it got pulled because it was too dark and depressing for a public audience. It's about a kid whose dad runs out on him, and everybody picks on him at school, and then it shows his adult life when he's 40 and doesn't work or have a girlfriend and lives with his mom and collects toys. It's drawn in 20s style comic art. I tried to find the graphic novels today (acme comics), but it's out of print and Sarge's comics in New London is all out.
VIEW 17 of 17 COMMENTS
I've missed a whole week of work because I have the flu and I'm not bringing in a doctor's notice. Think they'll fire me for that? lol