Post Eighty: My Uncle
As promised, here's my favorite story about my uncle referenced in my prior post (prefaced by a little background to set the tone):
My uncle has worked and works harder than pretty much any man I have ever known. First off, he is a farmer, which instantly casts him as someone who works too hard just by definition. But for much of his life he was also an employee of a giant aluminum (or is it petroleum? I'm not sure . . .) plant in South Texas. I don't know exactly what he did, but this was the type of job he wore a hardhat to. I have always had this image in my head of him climbing metal ladders attached to the sides of sprawling towers with sparks flying everywhere, or using huge wrenches to tighten or loosen various pipes that carried dangerous liquids.
As I've been told, he woke before dawn every day and headed out to the farm to do whatever it is that farmers do at any point during the year: planting/tilling/harvesting, whatever, driving the huge tractors or some other massive piece of machinery. He would then report to his "day job" at the plant, putting in his hours. After a full shift at the plant, he would return to the farm, finishing up that day's necessities. He would return home after dark, only to start the whole thing over the next morning. And it wasn't just a Monday through Friday routine: farming is a 7-day a week job.
He's also one of the strongest men I've ever heard of, which brings me to the "favorite story" portion of this post. Seems my uncle was using a Craftsman wrench while working in his shop, and it broke on him. I imagine that most people know that Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life against breakage, so my uncle went off to Sears to get a replacement.
Well, at Sears there was a clerk who had the bright idea to throw a little mud at my uncle. As he was getting the replacement wrench, the clerk made the comment, "Using a cheater rod, huh?" For your edification, a cheater rod is a length of pipe that slips over the handle of the wrench, allowing the user more leverage to tighten or loosen whatever it is that's being worked on. It also increases the risk of breaking the tool.
My uncle didn't take too kindly to that accusation. He proceeded to take the replacement wrench, and slap it in the vise Sears had on display on the floor. My uncle grabbed the wrench, gave a quick jerk of his forearms, and the wrench snapped in two.
Obviously, the clerk shut the fuck up after that.
Now, the kicker: he had been using a cheater rod.
My uncle has worked and works harder than pretty much any man I have ever known. First off, he is a farmer, which instantly casts him as someone who works too hard just by definition. But for much of his life he was also an employee of a giant aluminum (or is it petroleum? I'm not sure . . .) plant in South Texas. I don't know exactly what he did, but this was the type of job he wore a hardhat to. I have always had this image in my head of him climbing metal ladders attached to the sides of sprawling towers with sparks flying everywhere, or using huge wrenches to tighten or loosen various pipes that carried dangerous liquids.
As I've been told, he woke before dawn every day and headed out to the farm to do whatever it is that farmers do at any point during the year: planting/tilling/harvesting, whatever, driving the huge tractors or some other massive piece of machinery. He would then report to his "day job" at the plant, putting in his hours. After a full shift at the plant, he would return to the farm, finishing up that day's necessities. He would return home after dark, only to start the whole thing over the next morning. And it wasn't just a Monday through Friday routine: farming is a 7-day a week job.
He's also one of the strongest men I've ever heard of, which brings me to the "favorite story" portion of this post. Seems my uncle was using a Craftsman wrench while working in his shop, and it broke on him. I imagine that most people know that Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life against breakage, so my uncle went off to Sears to get a replacement.
Well, at Sears there was a clerk who had the bright idea to throw a little mud at my uncle. As he was getting the replacement wrench, the clerk made the comment, "Using a cheater rod, huh?" For your edification, a cheater rod is a length of pipe that slips over the handle of the wrench, allowing the user more leverage to tighten or loosen whatever it is that's being worked on. It also increases the risk of breaking the tool.
My uncle didn't take too kindly to that accusation. He proceeded to take the replacement wrench, and slap it in the vise Sears had on display on the floor. My uncle grabbed the wrench, gave a quick jerk of his forearms, and the wrench snapped in two.
Obviously, the clerk shut the fuck up after that.
Now, the kicker: he had been using a cheater rod.
posted by Juggernaut at
3:43 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home