Suddenly, we were interrupted by another employee. Without hesitation George yelled.
“How’s she going lad?” The young man waved in acknowledgment then left the room. We wouldn’t have been able to hear him anyway, with all the racket coming from the cheezie making machine.
“Who’s dat?” I asked, expecting the outcome, shortly
Dat’s John.” George offered
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me. Dat’s John “the giant” Gallant?” For he was a big man.
“No” George said. “Dat’s John Hillside”
“Ah yes” I added “Gallant…from up on the hillside?” I beamed
“No, just John Hillside!” He looked at me, quizzically, suspiciously, as if I was from another planet.
Okay! I give up. But enjoyable really, Maritime logic of a down homer and the personal philosophy of my co-worker George.
George was known to his mates as George “the cheese head” Gallant because back home his family made a cheddar cheese as a side operation on their potato farm. Perhaps that is why George was attracted to this job. Fate!
The next day I was on my own. No more George. It was an easy job I must say and by noon I had it down cold. I did miss the conversation with George as those cheezies came down the tunnel to the barrels. Standing there, sampling and chomping away to my hearts content, watching the world of cheezies go by. Every now and then one of the guys from shipping would come over and grab a handful of cheezies out of the barrel to take back to the loading dock. This became a regular occurrence.
I also had my fair share of cheezies. The only downside to all of this is one had a wicked orange stain around the lips, on the hands, fingers and down one’s shirt and pants. The stain was very difficult to get out, much the same as dried egg whites and yokes. And that machine. A work of mechanical art I can tell you. Yet after a while the novelty of this operation began to wear off and my restless nature was beginning to take hold again. I was beginning to see myself as Charlie Chaplin in “Modern Times.” I could envision being caught up in the gears of the contraption and turning into some monstrous cheezie. I am sure they could make a horror movie out of this meme.