What’s your problem?

I was reminded of a story that happened at work the other day.  I was reminded the other day, it happened awhile ago.  My foreman told me to go up on the line and clean off the parts, if I couldn’t get one of the operators to help me, then let him know and he would help.  Sounds easy enough.

So I go up and ask all 3 operators and nobody wanted to help, which didn’t surprise me because the other shift had left the parts so we all were refusing to clean them up.  That is until my foreman told me I had to.  They were in Paul’s section and he was the line leader so when I got back downstairs and told the boss that I needed his help he asked me questions.

Foreman - “Nobody would help you?”

Me - “Nope, they were all too busy”

Foreman - “What about Paul?

I just shrugged my shoulders.

Foreman - “What did he say?”

Me - “Good luck with that”

So we go upstairs and are taking the parts off when the boss get’s into Paul for not helping.  Paul denies ever saying that to me, says he told me to wait a minute and he would help.

Foreman (looking at me) “What was Paul doing when you asked him?”

Me – “Reading the newspaper”

He just looks at Paul and shakes his head and we continue to take the parts out.  Now a little while later, I’m downstairs loading a shuttle up, Paul walks towards me and puts his finger about an inch from my face and says “You’re a big, fat, fucking liar” and he started walking away.  I was kind of shocked, I didn’t lie, he was lying just to save face.  I didn’t run down and tell on him, all I did was answer the bosses questions.  As far as I was concerned, I didn’t do anything wrong.  The stupid part is he wasn’t going to get in trouble, he had his head so far up management ass that they probably sat around and laughed about it next time they went out.

As he was walking away and I let everything that he said sink in, I yelled at him “PAUL”.  He turns around, and I question him “Are you mad at something?”  He, went, off.  Started cussing up and down and before he turned to walk away again he said “That’s why your wife left you”.  I’ll be honest, I was laughing the whole time he was yelling, I couldn’t help it, it was funny.

Our relationship hasn’t been the same since.  We never were great friends, but we got along.  We use to go to White Sox games together, we played softball for years together.  He’s the kind of guy you get along with outside of work, but is a pain in the ass to work with.  If you ask him about what he said now, he says he never said any of it.  Guess he’s still in denial.  And he’s a foreman now, told you nothing would happen to him.

There is nothing better than remaining calm while someone is yelling at you, it pisses them off more than you yelling back.  You should try it, it’s fun.

Track – Father

Artist – AVB (Acapella Vocal Band)

For those that don’t know, I lost my father when I was 8 to cancer.  Songs about Father’s always kind of hit me.  The bad part was listening to christian music, there were a lot of songs about the Father, and I would just take some of the lyrics and make it about me not having a father.  Here’s the lyrics from this song.

A little girl, she seems grown-up, who's only four
She's so confused without a father anymore
And if you listen as she's on her knees to pray
Each night so preciously her broken heart will say:

Chorus:
Where is my father? Has he gone away?
Why can't he always be here to stay?
Where is my father? Does he still care?
I need a father who's always there

He left their family and he headed for the coast
He left a time when they needed him the most
The emptiness is even worse than if he'd died
Caught in confusion you can hear this young girl cry

Repeat Chorus

He's never coming back, she wished that he would
It hurt's cause he doesn't care
But she has another, a Father who's good
A Father who will always be there
You are my Father; never go away
I know you'll always be here to stay
You are my Father; I know you care
I need a Father who's always there
You are my Father who's always there

Obviously, these lyrics didn’t really match my life but I liked the chorus and it sang to me.