Author: Edward Guenther

Uploaded: November 11th, 2011

Growing up in the old days meant radio instead of TV, board games in the place of computers, sharing bath water, and generally having to create our own entertainment. Pa was especially good at this and the boys just naturally took after him.

Pa worked at Red’s Meat Distribution Plant. Sometimes it seemed like it was Pa who owned the place rather than Red. Phil Eck also worked there, and he could be a right touchy guy! You didn’t want to cross Phil Eck.

Upon occasion Pa would bring Jonny, Donny, Eddy, and Davy to work with him to unload a truck, and if the job was really big, Richy would come too. Pa, once, even got Annie and Anjo a little driving job there which turned out to be quite a disaster, but that’s another story!

While working at the plant, Red would occasionally peek into the deep freeze where Eddy and Davy were working and say in a grim voice, “Are you boys rotating that meat?” They would respond meekly, “Oh yes, Red.” Then, satisfied, Red would leave and the boys would continue working in that cold freezer. But as that deep freezer got colder and colder, Eddy could think only of getting out of

it. “I don’t think we really need to rotate everything,” Eddy would grumble. Soon, Davy wouldn’t think so either, and they would finish the job without having rotated everything. Red just couldn’t figure out how the meat could get freezer burned, being rotated and all.

Eddy and Davy weren’t the only ones to take shortcuts. As Jonny worked, his brain was doing overtime thinking up a shortcut to his own part of the job and once he figured something out, he could usually talk Donny into doing it. Like that time Red told them never to try to unload a whole pallet of eggs at one time. That didn’t make any sense to Jonny since there was a pallet jack! With Donny half-heartedly convinced of Jonny’s wisdom, down the ramp he came with those eggs. Donny watched in horror as they teetered and tipped

and then down they came. Jonny just stood puzzled as to what the flaw was in his theory. Red told them what he thought of their theory, but it can’t be printed. Despite the stress, Pa saw potential in those innovative boys.

Pa, always hanging in there with the boys, won their affection and even became an example that the boys wanted to follow. Jonny,

trying to think how Pa would think, talked Donny into loading up the plant’s coffeepot with pepper! Donny was understandably a bit reluctant, but then he figured that Jonny’s ideas had a way of working out in the end… sometimes. Besides, he could always claim that getting up at 3:00 a.m. to work at Red’s could do things to a boy’s mind, not to mention low pay.

So, With Jonny standing guard, Donny laced that pot with red pepper, … then he added a little more, …and more. Jonny getting anxious by the door, coaxed, “Come on, dump it in.” Donny squirmed a little, looked around, and dumped it in, all of it, just like Jonny said.

The boys continued to work, always keeping an eye on the break room where sat the spiked coffee. Then they stopped and stared at each other… their eyes getting big, when, of all people, Phil Eck took a coffee break!

From where Jonny and Donny watched, Phil Eck looked like a great gray whale spouting in the sea! Quickly, the boys became mighty busy, working like mad nonstop until their day was over.

Phil thought it was Pa who did it and Phil some awful words.

Jonny thought it was probably better to let Pa get the blame, it being Phil and all. And Donny, petrified with fear, could see the wisdom of this. In the end, they had an unspoken agreement never to touch that coffeepot again. And they never did.

Poor Pa was perplexed over the whole deal, but it never occurred to him ask the boys about it.