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| A
Labor Ready Day |
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| by
J. Johns, 53 |
It's
4:45 a.m., I'm hidden out in my sleeping bag,
I look at my watch and realize it's time for
another day with Labor Ready.
At 5:30, we're in the office. They serve hot
coffee. We sit around; there's little talk.
The pet people all go out on their jobs.
At 7:45, my name is called; they say it's
landscaping. I'm given a map. I get on the
bus and head for the job. It's a mile walk
from the nearest bus stop to the job site.
There's a half dozen pallets of cottage block;
each of those blocks weighs 80 pounds. We
carry them up the stairs, then up the back
steps into the garden. Then, lunch. We start
again.
We've been on the job 5 hours and 43 minutes
and there's plenty of work left, but the man
from the company says, Let's have your tickets.
We walk back to the bus stop, take the bus
back to the office, and get a $35 check. We
walk to the grocery store, buy a package of
generic cigarettes and the wino's drink, Olde
English 800 in a 24-ounce can. We pour our
beer into Coca-Cola paper cups and find an
appropriate place to have a drink: the parking
lot, the park.
Sometimes, we go out to eat. We decide which
place to go to dinner; we eat a meal and then
it's time for another 22-ouncer. Then we find
a place to spend the night.
I think to myself, lying in my bag, maybe
we'll get a full day tomorrow so we can pay
for the weekend. By the time I pay for tomorrow's
lunch and cigarettes, my check from today
will be gone. |
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