We went out the other day to have a brew or two and play some pool. We hooked up with a chum we only see sporadically now, having met him years ago at a club we used to frequent. We got to chatting and eventually turned our attention to the pool table, and wifey and I took turns letting this guy beat up with his prowess behind the cue.
I was on a smoke break, outside the joint and started thinking, and that's always dangerous. Are you a failure because you don't own a degree from some prestigious university? Are you a success because you work at some mind numbing job but keep the wife and kids fed, clothed, sheltered and basically happy? I am told, almost daily, that if I had stayed where I was 30 years ago, I'd have a much better job than I have today. True enough. But I wouldn't change anything if I had the chance to do it all over again.
"Lookin' back, lookin' back
Too many people lookin' back"
Bob Seger
I got the chance to see places other people only think of in passing. I got the chance to meet people who were real characters. I got to travel on someone else's dime. And I loved every minute of it. Even when I didn't.
Ever been in an open pit mine? I have. Let me tell you, when those big earth moving trucks come at you, and you're in a little-bitty Chev Malibu, you move over in a hurry. They'll run over you and not even feel the bump as they crush the top of your car into your skull. And the diggers wouldn't even notice you (you could fit about 20 of your cars into one of their scoops) as they pick you up and deposit you where you don't want to be.
Or how about a gold refinery? They check you out from breakfast to sunset before they let you in and you go through the same routine on the way out. You can't even carry a clipboard into the place. They'll supply you with one to make sure you're not scoffing anything. And of course, they have to show you an ingot and challenge you to pick it up. Impossible, trust me.
A cigarette factory? Just watch how they make them double length and then cut them in half before they put on the filters. The guys used to bug me all the time about when we were scheduled to go back in to do work. They were each allowed a carton per day for free and the fellows who didn't smoke would grab one anyway and bring them back to me.
What about an atomic fuel plant? You know, the guys that make the rods used in nuclear generating stations? You have to strip down (I mean strip down), put on a pair of paper overalls, go through scanners, wear a radiation badge, shower on the way out, the whole nine yards.
A rendering plant (the smell would gag a maggot), a chicken processing plant (watch your fingers), a slaughter house (it's as humane as they can make it, sorry to all you veggie non- believers), an airplane factory (geez, they're huge), a candy factory (the smell of strawberry ju- jubes still haunts me today), or an ice plant (you don't know what goes into supplying you that bag of ice you pick up at the corner store).
I've been in tire factories, automobile assembly plants, heavy equipment assembly plants, power generating stations, foundries, steel plants, fish processing plants and cruise missile guidance system factories. I've been in pharmaceutical factories, shipyards, stamping plants, mints and explosive manufacturing plants.
"Like a rock,
I was strong as I could be,
Like a rock"
Bob Seger
And someone asks if I had to do it all over again, would I change anything? Nope. Not a thing. But it is fun to look back over it all and reminisce.
Besides, if I didn't do all that, I never would have met my wife. The one who got her clock cleaned playing pool.
Zach Larkins
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