he was celebrating

he didnt keep a high bar

not champagne not highend wine a beer  a beer from a local gas station liquor store

they didnt have Therapist

they didnt have Knuckle Sandwich

                                    Fuck

Lance man ya let me down  A recommendation

Sorry.

No sorry a recommendation please

Hoptologist? Top shelf.

he turned back into the cooler Deep Knee good brewery doubleIPA nine percent alcohol ah 103 IBUs he did like bitter 

done deal 

           I don like this Lance ya owe me a beer

I’ll owe you a beer.

                    Lance knew his words werent casual

but then Lance knew his shit

hed taken his recommendations in the past  he was no slough

 

he wasnt one to celebrate himself  he preferred celebrating others  his family and friends birthdays anniversaries

he did celebrate his birthdays religiously  he didnt work 

                                                            I can’t give you the time off.

You misunderstood me Im not asking  I wont be here

That’s not how this works.

I  wont  be  here   So cover your ass

That’s not how this works.

he had either hungup the telephone or smiled wryly turned his back and walked out of the office

too many people allowed themselves to be bullied

he didnt show 

Joe.  I want to see you in my office.

Be right there

 

Shut the door please. 

                       someone ought to put that lyric to music  they ought to write a melody

he shut the door because he was asked not because he wanted hed rather the other employees heard

Where were you?

Where was I when

Yesterday.

Yesterday was my birthday I told you I wasnt coming in

I scheduled you.

Im happy to hear you can admit you made a mistake

You hung your co-workers out to dry.

My coworkers knew three weeks in advance as you knew  I wasnt going to be here

Your co-workers wouldn’t have done that to you.

Have you asked them

                       Cuz if it was their birthday Id man up Thats a legitimate unpaid unpaid  I did say unpaiddidnt I day off  a day worth having not here

What am I supposed to do with you?

Lemme work Andon put me on the schedule when I tell you Im not workingI wont be here

Donbe excuse me   stupid

Na I got work to do Anything else

 

he could see they were flabbergasted

it wasnt a kind thing to see  twitchy 

                                       Youll excuse me As I said Ive got work to do

he got up and left the office

closed the door behind him

wasnt another employee who could outwork him who knew his job like he did

 

an executive once told him 

                           You know what your problem is? he loved people telling him what his problem was No whas my problem You know your job too well.

he did know his job too well

didnt get him timely raises

he had to go in and ask

didnt stop themmanagement from threatening him

he wasnt going to pull their pud

he had his own 

never did fired him 

                    but that didnt stop them from threatening

 

if they werent in the nambypamby West he would have treated them to some good oldfashioned MidwestChicago retribution 

           but they all looked like bleeders 

they wouldnt have been able to ID him

not for the hood hed wear

he would have been the shit in the Ku Klux Klan

but he liked black folk better than those the colour of his skin

he had more in common with them

2257,  Reggae Friday,  19  2. 21