1/31/13
In days gone by there was a man named Benji. Benji was a friendly fellow but tended a little to the lazy side. Even though he made an effort to improve himself from time to time, things always had a way of turning against him. Perhaps this is why he had gotten to where he didn’t try so hard anymore.
One day Benji’s wife yelled at him for the thousandth time. “Why don’t you go out and find a job? All you do anymore is sit around while I do all the work!”
“What?
Go out now?! But it’s already late in the day.”
“Yes, now! At least try to find some day labor. If I can do laundering, you can do something!”
The day had begun like many others. Benji slept in late; not getting up until nearly 9:00. After eating a little breakfast he used his interface device to access the information network so he could see the day’s news and check the sports scores. Then to be able to say he’d tried, he browsed the job listings for five minutes. Like always, there just weren’t any openings for someone to sit behind a desk, shout orders to underlings, and collect a large salary. Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow. After this he cleaned up and got dressed for the day. But then being tired from the exertion, he laid back on the bed until time for lunch. Each afternoon he’d visit his friend Jeremy and the two of them would drink beer until dark. Finally, it was home for dinner, then browse the information network for funny video clips until he got sleepy.
Today, however, just as he had finished lunch and was about to head to Jeremy’s, his wife interrupted his routine with her unwelcome request. Where could he go? Where might he at least check on some jobs, even if he didn’t actually find one? Oh! There was a temporary labor service where workers could go and wait for employers to come hire them for a day or two. It was unlikely a job would turn up in the middle of the day. Most employers came looking for workers before 6:00 a.m. So there wasn’t much chance of getting hired today. But at least he could say to his wife, “I tried, but no one would hire me.” After all, she was the one who had suggested looking for day labor. Ha, hah!
Upon arriving at the job office he had checked in with the employment manager, as required. That’s when he heard some surprising news. There was a contractor with a huge job that needed to be completed right away, and he had already been in three times that day taking everyone available.
“What kind of work is he hiring for?” Benji asked the boss. Perhaps it was something he couldn’t do. But it turned out it would be easy work; just time consuming. It involved harvesting clusters of information packets from large fields of data. Normally this could be done by a small team over a week or two. But this contractor had to meet a hard deadline or suffer a major loss.
As Benji was pondering all this he saw his friend Jeremy come into the office and register for the day. Once Jeremy had come over and sat down he told how Benji’s wife had been to his house and talked with his wife; then a short time later he was being pushed out the door with orders to find work. Wives can be so merciless sometimes.
“Heads up!” the manager called out to all the men waiting. “Here he comes again.”
While everyone was looking toward the door, Benji nudged Jeremy and the two of them tiptoed quickly to the Men’s Room. They sat in the restroom until they began to feel embarrassed, then returned to the emptied waiting room. After chatting another two hours they began discussing leaving early.
Benji said, “I don’t much feel like going home just yet. Not after how rude my wife was. I think I’ll stop by The Watering Hole for a drink or two to brace up my courage.”
“You have money for a couple of drinks?” asked Jeremy.
“Yeah. I snatched some coins out of her bag before leaving. It serves her right.”
“Well, then; how about me coming along and you getting one for each of us? Uh, uh. Don’t try to say no. Remember you owe me one; several actually. But one will do, for now.”
Benji hid his inner feelings and consented to buy his friend a drink. They were just opening the front door to exit the employment office when they met the Contractor coming in yet again.
“Oh, good. I need a few more,” said the Contractor. After looking past them and seeing no one else there, he said to the two of them, “Come with me. I’ll show you where we’re working.”
Realizing they were well and truly caught, Benji and Jeremy went along quietly. By the time they arrived at the site and got started there was only one hour left until the end of the workday. To Benji’s surprise he actually accomplished quite a bit in that short amount time. As he enjoyed the small feeling of satisfaction at a job well done, he imagined how much greater the feeling might have been had he worked longer. But he couldn’t muse on that too long; the Contractor and his paymaster were coming in to give everyone their day’s wages.
As the dozens of workers began moving toward the pay table Benji could recognize which ones had been there from early morning and which had come later in the day. Not only did everyone show different levels of fatigue, they also were grouping themselves into cohorts with the longest working ones snubbing the late-comers. Even the half-day workers had taken up this attitude and were looking sideways at the most recent arrivals.
Sensing the enmity directed their way, Benji and Jeremy moved to the back corner to be out of the way. But to the surprise of everyone in the room, instead of paying the first-comers first, the paymaster at the direction of the Contractor called for the last arrivals to come forward. The animosity was palpable as the two of them moved through the sea of murmuring to stand before the pay table.
The pay scale for day laborers was long established and well known. There was a set amount due for a full day of basic work. Those employed less than a full day received the part of that figure which corresponded to the portion of the day worked. So having labored only one hour, Benji knew he was due just a fraction of what the others would get. This was another reason he had hoped to be paid last; it would have been nice to avoid the additional embarrassment.
As the paymaster began counting the coins onto the table, he didn’t stop when Benji expected; but instead continued stacking them until he had reached the amount for a full day’s wage. As Benji looked at him with a puzzled expression, the paymaster counted out a second stack of full-day pay, then motioned Benji and Jeremy to come pick them up. Jeremy strode forward and grabbed his quickly. Benji hesitated a moment longer, struck with disbelief, before taking the coins and stepping back. He wasn’t the only one astonished — the entire room was now buzzing with comments of surprise.
Taking a cue from Jeremy, Benji followed him out the door. They then hurried down the road and around a corner before the Contractor could have second thoughts about his generosity. It was apparent the consternation of the remaining workers was building rapidly at this breach of payment etiquette. There was no telling how this might turn out; and neither of them felt curious enough to wait and see.
Benji turned down Jeremy’s suggestion to at last go get that drink. He was still uneasy and didn’t wish to rub elbows with any other day laborers who might happen into the same establishment. So he hurried away to the security of his home and wife. His earlier angry feelings had been long forgotten.
Feeling rather proud of his ability to at last contribute to the family finances, he strutted into the house with the bearing of a great hunter bringing home a hard-won trophy. His wife turned to face him with a “what now” expression.
Moving to the rhythm of his imagined fanfare, he slowly approached the table and carefully placed his stack of coins in the center. He then stepped back and bowed to her with a flourish. He looked for lavish praise; but it didn’t come.
At last she asked, “What’s this?”
“It’s my wages. I went to the day labor office, as you suggested, and I got hired.”
“Will they need you again tomorrow?”
“No. This job was just for today. But you’re not noticing the best part. Even though I only worked for one hour, I got paid all that!”
“What? You only worked one hour?”
“Yes. Isn’t it great?!”
“No! Just think how much you could have brought home if you’d worked the whole day!”
“Hunh?!” Benji was thunderstruck. He couldn’t believe she didn’t understand. Things like this never happen. His luck had at last changed, but here she was criticizing him. Why couldn’t she be happy?
She then added, “Tomorrow you’re going to be at that labor office first thing in the morning.”
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED
