i used to be a weldor at the cushman factory in lincoln nebraska. i liked to work really fast and make quota so then i could pretend to paperwork, or ride around on the scooters with my friends, or find a corner and take a nap. the company loved that they had a female working for them, and would always point me out when they gave tours, "...look how diverse we are. next up, the man from zambia."
one day, one of the fine 2nd shift fellows i worked with rolled up on a scooter and engaged me in conversation.
Guy: is corey still here?
Taura: i don't really know.
Guy: huh, you better not bite on that thing (indicates my tongue piercing) or, (points to his own missing front tooth)
Taura: have you tried paging him?
Guy: now what if you got that metal thing real close to your work and you accidently put a real quick spot weld on it, that would hurt, right?
Taura: (long pause)...do you really think that's going to happen?
Guy: i don't kow, probably to me, i'm a bad weldor.
Taura: hmmm...
Guy: i paint things! (swooshing noise)
Taura: well that's good then
Guy: i can weld, i'm a real bad weldor though. i learned how bad when i didn't wear a jacket. (shows arms where supposed spatter burns happened.)
Taura: it just takes practice.
Guy: have you ever been to the powder room? (where they powder coat things)
Taura: no
Guy: what?!
Taura: no
Guy: come on! i'll show you! let's go! (jerks head towards scooter and starts to walk that way.)
Taura: no, i gotta make rate on these.
Guy: (comes back) i hate painting those.
Taura: maybe you should page corey.
Guy: i'm gonna go page corey.
Taura: ok.
he's such a dork. i can't stand it, it's pathetic. so i go over and transcribe the conversation, because it's so unbelievably annoying. 5 minutes later, he pulls up on the scooter again.
Guy: come on!
Taura: what?
Guy: come on and i'll show you the powder room!
Taura: i got paperwork.
Guy: you can't got that much paperwork. (gets off scooter and comes over to see the paperwork)
Taura: does it matter? (covering up what i'm currently writing about him)
Guy: (reading off my time sheet) "taura", is that your name?
Taura: yeah
Guy: it's a pretty name.
Taura: thanks
Guy: come on, i'll show you the powder room, i can't believe you haven't seen the powder room!
Taura: well i'm sure i've seen it.
Guy: big... white...
Taura: yeah yeah i've seen it.
Guy: god, i'm just trying to get someone to come talk to me.
Taura: sorry
Guy: cuz i'm so bored.
Taura: (nothing)
Guy: (waves me out of his mind in defeat and drives away on the scooter)
the place was full of interesting characters, scary characters, pathetic characters. the guy whose wife divorced him because he was caught messing around with a retarded girl at the fair (info found by snooping in personal files) and the guy who pulled a gun on my then-boyfriend because he told him to stop saying faggot, the crazy 1st shift dude who said he was in the vietnam war though he was too young and would tell 2nd shift people that if they didn't sweep his booth they'd regret it. there were about 8 or so of us on 2nd shift in the 18-22 range, and we'd mess around so much on the scooters and crash them and race them that the company took all the keys away. everyone on 1st shift got to use the scooters whenever they wanted (because they were adults), but we only had one to use and we'd have to think of a reason to use it. a year or so after i left cushman, the factory closed down. even though it was a soul sucking job, i felt bad for everyone who got fired because of it.
i loved those scooters, to drive them and to make them.
this was the last one they made before the factory shut down.
