My work ID says laborer on it.
I get up before the sun, every day to shower and go into work.
I get there, clock in, do my mandatory stretches, and start on the first task of the day, most often mowing greens, which takes about two and a half hours. Then I start the second task, every other day I refill the water coolers on the course. At 9 A.M. I can take a fifteen minute break, usually I don’t. Then I start the third task, usually the one that takes me through until the end of the day. Most often this is weed-eating or mowing with a zero turn mower. I do this until 11. At 11, I get a twenty minute paid lunch. Most often, I have two ham sandwiches with two slices of ham and one slice of cheese each. Then I return to work, most often weed-eating or mowing with a zero turn mower.
I am finished by two on weekdays.
Weekends I only work four hours. Any longer and golfers will complain. If I want to get a forty hour paycheck, I only get one day off a week.
This weekend I am hoping to work eleven hours, both days, because of a tournament and over-time opportunity.
After work, I go home, or I help my roommate in his shop where I get paid a dollar more than I make at my job.
I am covered in sweat, and dirt, and grass, and machine grease.
On Fridays, on payday, I deposit my check with a short teller at the bank along my way home. She always flirts with me and asks what I’m up to this weekend. My answer is always, “working.” I have never asked a single question about her.
My hair is too long; I don’t have the time (or even the money) for a haircut. I’ve been letting my beard grow since May. I smoke Pall Mall Red cigarettes from a carton I bought in Missouri on the way to a friend’s wedding, and I don’t talk much to people who don’t know me already.
I drink a beer when I get home, and I drink a beer with dinner.
I sleep on a mattress on the floor, and the only piece of furniture in my room is an old writing desk.
I have not had a serious romantic relationship in: god has it been that long?
Tuesdays, when I can. I go to a gay bar across the Mississippi for drink specials and Karaoke.
My only day off is Wednesdays. I usually sleep in until 6 A.M.
I still write every day.
I still write every day.
I am getting by.
I am getting by.
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