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Seventeenth Job of Bob - Farm, Hardware, Retail, Auto Service - Part VI - Tourette's in the shop, is it Dave's fault and where would I be now?
This entry was posted on 7/31/2008 12:05 PM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
One of the most interesting and real characters in the auto shop was an African American guy named Fraido. He had a shaved head, bowling ball size biceps, a friendly demeanor, and - Tourette's. The crazy policy of the shop let customers roam around while the cars were being fixed. One day a man stormed up to Fraido and demanded to know why his mini van was not ready. If nerved up, Fraido's Tourette's kicked in. It also kicked in with the loud noises of the shop. Fraido tried to zip a lug nut on the raised car as he looked to the side at the Yuppie-esque customer. The lug nut flew off into the shop and the pneumatic gun spun it at two hundred miles per hour. Fraido grabbed another lug nut. But Tourettes stopped him in his tracks. He began making air gun noises with his lips - "vvvvippp, vrrrrippp." The customer paused and looked closer at the veins in Fraido's head and biceps bulge. He could now not stop making the "vvvippp" sound. He might as well have tryed to hold his breath to try to kill himself - something scientists say is impossible.
"Fuck it," the Yuppie cautiously said as he backed away. "I will come back for the car later this afternoon - maybe tomorrow if need be - take your time dude!"
My auto shop days were an era where I noticed my waist line was perennially larger than it was in high school. A customer came into the shop about my age with a Coast Guard emblem on his truck. It said, "Retired from the Guard." I had looked into going into the Coast Guard after my Army tour. It dawned on me I would then have 20 years in as well if I had stayed the military couse in life.
There was a kid named Dave who showed up to work in the shop who had been to Whitewater High School. Albeit, he had been there over 20 years after I had been there. He had an odd habit. Say two women employees were talking about a third employee who had got mad and quit (not unusual). But, most of the females worked on the other side of the store - what seemed a mile from the auto shop. "Man," Dave would say, "I hope it was nothing I did?" He was serious, not just kidding around.
I soon became so annoyed at Dave's constant worrying about if he had caused some issue to explode, I started to bait him. The routine would evolve with Dave having a query.
"I wonder where Fraido is today?" Dave would ask me.
"He said one of the younger mechanics upset his Tourette's by constantly asking stupid questions, so he stayed home today," I would suggest.
"Oh my God," Dave would say as his face scrunched up. "I know it is me!" For the rest of the day Dave would fret as he added other perceived dilemmas to his plate - all of which had nothing to do with him - of course.
The Bug-eyes had asked me if I might be interested in being the shop manager. The manager job not even perennial assistant manager, rube-Pat was dumb enough to entertain taking. The Bug cornered me in the tire recycle trailer one day and interrogated me as to my declining the role of shop manager.
"Going back to college," I embellished. I went back to school alright. I did not decline the job because I was going back to school. I went back to college to try and escape a blue-collar world of never ending underpaid jobs; eccentric co-workers; neurotic customers; broken backs; ruined lives; constant debt; psychotic bosses; and, a broken spirit.
Wisconsin military service person of the week
Army Private First Class Sean M. Schneider, 22, died when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, March 29, 2004. Sean had been in the region for less than a month when he was killed. At the time of Sean's death almost 600 U.S. service members had died in Iraq since the beginning of the Spring 2003 military operation there. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Schneider had worked for a concrete company in Janesville, the town where he also grew up. PFC Schneider was a 2000 graduate of Janesville J.A. Craig High School. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned he held a 2.6 grade point average and was a member of the auto mechanics club. In the Army, Sean served as a mechanic with the Army's Company A, 115th Forward Support Battalion, Division Support Command, 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas. Private First Class Sean Schneider was the 13th Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
86,423 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
8,496 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,125 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
556 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
314 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
337 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
30,435 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
2,257 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
91 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
11 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
130 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
15 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
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