Can’t Come to Work Today
By Scott Anthony
For years I worked in a big printing plant in Tukwila. We had about 50 guys there, from all walks of life and of varying degrees of smarts. I learned a lot of things about human nature and working relationships there and one day I’ll probably use some of those lessons to write that book that I kid myself about.
Our foreman, Bill ‘Willy’ Blauvelt was a great mentor. Part disciplinarian and part drinking buddy, one of the best things he taught me was that even the most disagreeable, stick-in-the-mud individuals could still have something worthwhile to offer.
Because most of us worker bees were young and unencumbered by notions of punctuality and work ethic, we would frequently try to skip out on a day of work here and there. Willy, having done his own time calling in with the ‘beer bottle flu’ was on to us from the get-go, but he would make note of the best excuses and remind us of what worked and who, eventually, had to come to work. The following anecdotes are todays worthwhile offerings from me.
(Riiiiiiing)
Marty- 'Can't make it in to work today, Bill'
Bill: 'Why not Marty?'
