A Good Day At Work

A Good Day At Work

Alex Thompson was not a happy man today; he along with his co-worker and friend Jonathan Walters had been out drinking the night before. They were drinking quite a lot in fact. They were celebrating along with another friend of theirs who had recently found out he was to become a father. They had quite a good time last night; unfortunately they had to work today.

They knew it was going to be a rather tough day. Neither man had slept much and they were both fairly hung-over when they got there that morning. Their job wasn’t an overly difficult one though and they had managed to do it in the same, or worse, condition many times before.

Upon arrival Alex picked up the days shipping ticket as he always did and clamped it into the clipboard that hung from the string on the wall next to the bay door as he always did. Sadly Alex had been doing this for three years now and while Jonathan had only been at it for a comparatively short seven months, he was just as equally skilled at these monotonous tasks. After another few moments of loitering about smoking their cigarettes and sipping their coffee they started their task.

Their task today, just as every other day, was a simple one. They locate everything on their ticket in the warehouse and bring it to the shipping bay so that it can be loaded onto the trucks the next day. These efforts are loosely coordinated with Ralph Jackson and Martin Steinman who are responsible for loading the items in question onto the trucks; an equally exciting job. The idea being that as Ralph and Marty clear space in the bay Alex and Jonathan fill it back up again. It’s an unending cycle that leaves all of them with zero sense of accomplishment for their hard work.

All four of these men are supervised by one Richard Lowry. Richard was not much older than any of the other men and was in fact far younger than Ralph Jackson. Mr. Lowry, however, had something the others didn’t have; a business degree from a university. This man’s job as their supervisor was not a very difficult one either. He was responsible for periodically checking their list against his own throughout the day and attempting to catch any mistakes as they happen. In reality, more often than not, Mr. Lowry spent his days in his air conditioned office speaking with others on the phone or reading his newspaper. He would, of course, make a single obligatory check near the end of the day on his way out the door to go home and should he find any mistakes the discovery would usually be followed by a lengthy scolding. He would then force them to correct the errors before they would be allowed to go home.

This day was not so very different. With forty-three minutes left until quitting time Mr. Lowry leaves his office with his coffee in one hand and newspaper folded over his copy of the shipping ticket in the other. Casually he makes his way through the bays until finally arriving at bay number 3 where Alex, Jonathan, Ralph and Marty were all at work. He started on the left end as usual and began checking the order numbers on the packages against those on his ticket. At the first package he frowned, made a mark on his ticket then moved on to the next. Here he paused again, looked from his paper to the package and back again. Now still wearing the frown he furrowed his brow and walked to the hanging clipboard. After checking Alex’s copy against his own he winced and his face contorted like one might in the face of a chill wind.

“Jonathan. Alex. Come here please,” Mr. Lowry bellowed with obvious contempt in his voice. The two men made their way over expecting the usual; both were slightly startled by the look of fury on his face.

“What’s up,” Alex asked dryly.
“You two idiots get away with a lot around here but this time it’s just too much. Come here and look at this.” Lowry held his ticket out to Alex as he came toward him.
“What about it?”
“What date is on that ticket Alex,” Lowry asked knowing the answer.
“March, 4th 2006,” He replied.
“Exactly, and what is the date on the ticket you’re working from,” He asked looking at Jonathan who was leaning against the wall next to the clipboard.
Jonathan looked at the ticket then answered sheepishly, “March 5th 2006”.

Now Mr. Lowry started in a breathless torrent, “So you two morons just spent eight hours working on tomorrow’s ticket. Jesus Christ what the hell is wrong with you? Actually, never mind I take that back I know exactly what’s wrong with you. You both smelled like you bathed in booze when you got here. It’s not like it’s the first time either and you know it. It’s no wonder you’re too damn stupid to know what day it is. The real wonder is that you have enough brain cells left to find your way here.” Finally he paused, red-faced, to breathe then finished, “That may be a reason for being stupid but it’s still no excuse. You two are going to stay and fix this off the clock or you’re gone.”

Jonathan, obviously pissed off at this point, started to fire back but was beaten to the punch by Alex who tonelessly asked, “Haven’t you ever gone out with your friends to have a little fun and maybe drink a few rounds?”
“Yes, but I, unlike you, know how to keep my personal and professional life separate,” Lowry retorted.
“Ok, how about weed? Ever partied? Maybe smoked a little bud with a friend. Or maybe snorted a line of coke? Have you ever done any drugs Mr. Lowry,” Alex asked in an almost eerily calm voice.

Lowry, taken aback, stammered, “W-what? What are you...?” Then back in control of himself he roared, “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? Of course I haven’t you impertinent little son of a bitch! Get the hell out!”

“Oh don’t worry, I intend to leave. I just wanted to clear that up before I go.” Alex was still calm as he walked over to Mr. Lowry and took his paper from him.
“So just to clarify,” he began. “You have never done any drugs; you rarely drink and if you do you never let it interfere with work.” Alex made a mark on Lowry’s paper and handed it back to him and said, “So then you just have no excuse or reason at all for your stupidity do you?”

Lowry was speechless as he watched Alex walk away. He looked down at his newspaper and saw that Alex had circled the date; Friday, March 5th 2006.