[Jolly Amaranto]

One summer when I was in college, I was trying to support myself and pay half the rent on an apartment my buddy and I were renting. I was not having luck finding the perfect job and it got to the point that "a job" was better than "the job" so I checked out a temp agency. This place in Houston was for day laborers, I think it was called Labor Pool or something like that. Since I had a car, a beat up old Toyota Corona, they sent me a ways out on the north west side to wash trucks at a Ryder Truck rental agency. Washing bugs off of bumpers with a steam wand was fun but in 98º heat and 90% humidity, it got old quick. Especially when inside an 18 wheeler trailer blowing crap out the back. After a few days I asked to be sent somewhere else. Next they sent me to the Kroger warehouse on the east side. They offered me extra money to take some others with me in my car so I loaded up 3 winos and away we went. I was put on a job rounding up boxes of small inventory dry goods and made sure they all got to the right pallet at the correct loading dock. The other guys were back bailing recycled cardboard boxes. The trip to and from the warehouse was kind of awkward but we all made small talk and I learned a little about their life style. They seemed content with it as they hated responsibility and liked the freedom. After we got back to the office, our daily pay checks were cut and waiting for us. They would grab theirs and disappear around the corner to the liquor store to cash them. I did that for a few weeks before I found a job in a machine shop.