This Is Why I'm Like This: On The Assembly Line

    So, I never explained truly why I'm at the warehouse.
    Besides the fact that I lost one of my directing gigs, I also cannot seem to get hired anywhere doing anything. I have applied at King Soopers, Barnes and Noble and my local liquor store. I even applied to shop and deliver groceries, but nobody in my neighborhood uses the ap. I find this to be suspicious, don't you? Like "Hand Of God"  suspicious. I'm still applying, but nothing is happening so I'm still at the warehouse.
     But I blew through all of the quality control stuff, and spent last week on the assembly line. I kinda hate it, but I like money and nobody bothers me, which is nice. I literally put in my headphones and assemble shower brackets for eight hours.
     I enjoy the schedule. I hate the drive, the damn thing is in Aurora. If I go in with Jim I can do 9-5, but everyone clears out at 3pm, because the warehouse hours are 7-3 So I stay alone and assemble some stuff, and I enjoy the solitude. I worked both shifts, trying to decide which is best. I really hate the drive, not the distance---it's an hour---but the other drivers. People gotta stop moving here, dude.
    The line manager, L, doesn't seem too worried about my hours.When I show up I know what to do,  I do it. and that's all that matters. Nobody is checking my work, really, unless I'm doing it wrong, in which case one of the other four on the line will show me how to do it right. It's even more mind numbing than quality control stuff, at least that was different every day. There are seemingly millions of these brackets, they're never ending. The only variety is if the guy doing the packing (whose name I still do not know, but he's nice and has a tattoo on his neck so that's how I refer to him "Nice Neck Tattoo") falls behind a bit, then I help him pack and bag.
    I'm in the middle. There are five of us if we all show up. L unpacks the plastic backs, Arturo cleans them and puts on the blue sticker. Kristian puts in the locks and drills the backs on, then I clip the three dispensers on the front and check that the locks work. Then they're rebagged in the same plastic they arrived in, and repacked. Scene.
   Mind Numbing.
   If anyone gets bogged down, I help with locks and drilling backs, or packing. L has the fastest gig, unloading and cleaning the backs so she's never behind. Sometimes Arturo's stickers give him trouble, but for the most part, he's good. It's the locks and drilling Kristian does that could use an additional person to speed up the process. Until I came along there were only four of them, and I guess that's how I ended up over there, they needed the help and I showed up the first of June volunteering to help. Except they're paying me, I'm not a volunteer. Anyway, in my professional opinion they still need another person on the line. Arturo wasn't there Friday, and last week Nice Neck Tattoo left at ten am, and things really slowed down. But nobody seems to be too wound up about how fast we're going, so I'm not sure I'm having a "real" assembly line experience. I think of Roseanne Barr (didn't she work on an assembly line on her show?) and Norma Rae and Laverne and Shirley and Lucy and Rosie the Riveter. I'm in good company. But I feel like they had bosses that wanted higher productivity all the time, and that's not happening where I am. The only thing I know is the first day I was on the line, I heard L say they wanted to ship a thousand of the brackets that day. I have no frame of reference for identifying if that is a lot or typical.
    I entertain myself with ghetto math, adding up how many brackets each box holds, trying to count boxes to see how many we've unpacked and repacked. I forget the number five minutes after I've calculated, because my music stopped and I need to choose a new band or comedian to listen to.
   I like having scheduled breaks. They break at 8.30, 10.30 and 12.30, leave at 3. They just drop where they are and walk away, then pick it up when they return. This is such a foreign concept to me, as I work through off periods and lunch at school. The morning stretch before lunch is the hardest, I think I'm still asleep at the first stretch. 10.30-12.30 is a really long time when you're standing in one place doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over....
   I have bruises on my hands from popping in the clips. It's just not work I'm used to and I do have arthritis, so it's an adjustment. But standing on my feet all day is not as horrible as I thought it would be, as I can stretch or walk around as I like. Kristian does ballet stretches that I love. Arturo and L sit most of the day at the table. I tried sitting the first day because L recommended it, but it was worse than standing.
   I'm not the best at drilling, my eyes are bad and the screws are tiny, but I like the break in the monotony. It's not hard work, and most of the people who work there seem pretty happy. Nobody complains. Last week we had to go on lock down because the cops were raiding a house in the neighborhood behind the warehouse. I asked Kristian what that meant and he replied "We lock the warehouse." I sounded stupid, so I told him that it means something completely different to me and he said "Nope, we just shut the doors and keep working." So it wasn't much of a break, except that Nice Neck Tattoo did not return after the 10.30 break, which was right after the lock down. Nobody knew where he went or seemed too worried, though L and I thought it'd be fun to believe he ran because of the raid. But he was back the next day. Alllllrighty then.
    I feel like I could leave for months, and randomly show up one day and they'd put me to work, not expecting me to return and not wondering where I'd been. What an odd experience, but not unlike teaching, really. It's been proven time and again anyone can do my job, I'm not special. At least here I have no delusions of importance, I know anyone can do this, and someone will when I leave.
   I thought about not returning, it really is boring but not in a bad way. They're paying me, somebody has to do it and they're paying me. At first I didn't like the monotony, it's too much time without thinking and when I get off, the hour drive home is just an extension of my numb head. I don't realize I'm tired until I walk in the door, and then I can't manage to vacuum or grocery shop because I'm so unplugged I can only sleep.
   So I'll head back three days next week, I'll go in with Jim to avoid having to drive. I can stay the extra two hours working alone just fine. It's weird, I don't work there but I work there. I feel like Jack Black in High Infidelity,  He's fired but he keeps coming back. I don't work there but I work there. I am living a true paradox. L said they told her I was there for the summer. I said "Don't rely on me, I have no idea how much I'll be around." She smiled and said "OK, not a big deal."
   Guess I'll be around a few days for another week. Then we'll see.