CS: A Fresh Coat of Paint

By 8:00 am a full van of people waiting for stragglers, it was 28 degrees outside. The crew members with cars parked in tandem behind the blue CS van. By 8:30 a Cuban woman in her early fifties knocked on Mr. B-----'s window. She unfolded a piece of paper with the Kings County court seal. Someone said "Who brought their mom?" It was too cold and early for dry humor, no one laughed. Mr. B----- told her she had the wrong work day. "Ay loco, disculpe... que dia para trabajo? Ala Domingo?" she asked with her hands to her chest. She was sent home. What did pequeña abuelita do to get stuck on the Community Service crew?

Weaving through traffic we arrived at the same location as last week. As we entered teh buidling you could see that another crew had primed more coats over the light switches and sockets. Someone even painted on a window. Picking at the dried primer on the door, Mr. B----- shook his head. "Today we are working with the yellow cans, get your rollers and brushes from the box, you gotta be more careful than this."

"Mr. Lee, hey Mr. Lee start on this side of the room." Mr. B----- tapped me on the shoulder. "I'm not Mr. Lee, I'm Carl." I replied as I filled my pan.

"Then who's Mr. Lee?"
"Probably the same guy named Mr. Chen?"
"Oh no man, no, I didn't mean to call you Mr. Lee like that, Carl. So who's this Mr. Chen?"
"He might be a Chinese guy, I'll ask Mr. Lee."
"So you're not Lee or Chen, then?"
"Neine! Mr. B-----, are you giving my wokr hours to some Korean guy?"

Carl is sometimes mistaken for Korean or Chinese, but never German. The men in the front room laughed out loud.

I grinned and laughed. I told him I was I just bustin' his chops. I don't think they expect humor from a Cleric. The guy cutting around the basebaord asked "So what are you?" "A former Druid from Middle Earth... now a fourth level Cleric ." I replied.

I asked about my CS hours. Mr. B----- said I'd know when it was over, I'd be notified (by mail?). I told him I started with January 7 work crew. He said I'd only have four or five weekends left. The crew traded cutting and rolling. This year's Institutional Yellow is last year's Safflower. The room looked like we were all standing in a large omelette, it made me a bit hungry. I thought about getting a sandwich and coffee on the way home. My appetite was finally returning to Eastern Standard Time. Another coat of paint and two cigarette breaks later we were done.

So who is Mr. Chen?

Scores on the Board:
70 - 40 = 30 Community Service hours