Arbeit Macht Frei

 We all feared the arrival of Little Jimmy. I had been at Ratmo Construction LLC for several months and heard things about him, none of them good. He was a little guy, thus the moniker, like maybe 5'2" in heels, which he surely wore, and had a tough reputation as a dickhead. Our American south is full of diminutive warriors who are ten feet tall, and bullet proof. They are fvcking annoying, but there they are, always compensating. 

The paint crew was going to be divided into two groups. We had been commanded by 162 IQ Lou- who was just "Lou" at the time- and had been my boss since my Day 1. 162 wasn't a very good leader, but he was fair and not at all tough on people. Little Jimmy had been upset that he had been passed over- yet again- as Supreme Commander of the paint crew, never minding that Lou was in that position because his brother was in the position of Vice President of the company. Good luck outranking that! So, Little Jimmy pissed and moaned and became co-boss. I guess the office figured it would shut him up. 

I was a relatively young, married family man at the time. My stepdaughter was in school, we had one vehicle, and it was my responsibility to get her there each morning and home in the evening. She could absolutely not be dropped off and left to fend for herself in the city of Memphis, before 7am or there would be severe repercussions from the school. There was that, but more importantly there was the fact that you just don't drop little girls or boys off on their own in any city, anywhere in America. It's not the 60's anymore. 

Little Jimmy wasn't having that. But he was having that because my circumstances had been grandfathered in by 162. He really hated that. And he hated me. Well, fvck him. He hated everyone, himself most of all. 

He literally told us the morning he took over the crew, that if anyone had a family, they best forget about them, because this work was more important. He was speaking to ALL of the guys with wives and kids, but he was really speaking only to me. But again, my situation was grandfathered in and there was nothing he could do about that. Still had to give his speech though. He had to show us how tough he was. It's like when dad dresses you down, but you already know mom is running the show. You just take it because you know how little it means coming from that source. 

In time, things settled down at Ratmo. My familial lifestyle might upset little shits like that, but there was no denying my painting ability. Well, there was some denying going on. A Ferrerman always has his detractors, jealous little bitches that they are, and that's just the way it is. You deal with that as it comes in life.

Little Jimmy warmed to me as time went on. I was a combat-ready painter whom you could drop behind enemy lines with nothing but a P.O. book and a 5-in-One and I would get the job done and make you look like a boss who knew what he was doing. It probably helped that, in time, I got divorced and my family situation changed, but not really sure about that. Every other weekend was spent with my son (ex-wife willing) so there wasn't all the overtime that Ratmo wanted from me. Little Jimmy and I actually became somewhat friends, and he even helped me get into a more desirable apartment complex, where he lived. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That shit never works. 

A couple years later, Little Jimmy hosted another gathering of the paint crew, this one to announce layoffs. I was one of like 22 guys laid off. Jimmy might have taken it as a delightful, personal victory, but the reality of it was that it was a Ratmo personnel victory. Their dream of eliminating employees and having nothing but a small band of office people getting work and then subbing it out to other companies was coming to fruition. They had already fired the sheetrock finishers, and now it was the paint crew's turn to be decimated. A handful of guys were left behind for the reality of servicing Ratmo's #1 customer, who would not take "We'll get some subs out there tomorrow" as an answer to anything. If that man said jump, Ratmo didn't ask how high, they just started jumping. 

This business seems kind of currently familiar, doesn't it? Laying off people for the payroll savings is a dumb idea, but it happens at every level of capitalism. The paint herd needed thinning, but even my detractors wondered why me. I knew, but what are you gonna do. I collected unemployment and worked for cash with a fella I knew. I actually did pretty well with this arrangement, and trust me, I'm not the kind of guy who always falls into it and comes out smelling like a rose. I just have my moments. Those moments are good or bad and you take them as they come. Work doesn't set you free, but it gets you from here to there, wherever you have to be, depending upon others along the way.