I apologize for the long delay between posts. Football all day has really put a damper on my blogging time. Additionally, I also had to let the second round analysis of the B to the R simmer down before unveiling another post. Despite intense pressure from All-American Josh Swore, I will not be writing an entire post on NWC's hottest male athlete (this award was voted on by the women of NWC). This is unfortunate for the ladies of the 3003 trying to get some background information on Swore before they attempt to befriend him in hopes of a lifelong friendship. However, I promised to give him a well deserved shout out in what will hopefully set records for viewership.
When it comes to summer work nearly everyone at NWC knows I am a Blue Bunny man in the summer. This summer was a record summer for Blue Bunny, thus I was putting in a record number of hours per week. 63 hours a week (graveyard shift) was typical for me which also helps explain why I was blogging (my only social life), but also for my lack of posts. This being my second year at Blue Bunny and a seasoned veteran, I figured I would write a post about some things I have noticed in my 2 years.
Language
Working the night shift also means being a Caucasian is in the minority. English is a second language for most of the employees. When workers are decked out in all the gear, and all you can make out of a face is a small hole for their nose and eyes, it can be a challenge to get a read on one's ethnicity. I cannot say how many times I tried yelling (the fans in the factory require yelling just to hear someone) at a guy in English only to hear him yelling back in Spanish. I think it would be a great idea to stick some sort of mark or sticker on every man's hard hat to symbolize the appropriate language to talk to him. This would help for those who can speak English and Spanish, but for a minority like myself it may not be much help especially for those who only speak Spanish. One of my favorite fellow employees knew only Blue Bunny English and I could speak Blue Bunny Spanish so it worked out. Perhaps the reason he was one of my favorites was due to the fact that we had little interaction.
Language II
Even though I named this section Language II, know that they have no correlation. The language I am referring to here is the employee rhetoric. If you are yelled at with some choice words this is not always a bad thing. Unless you have done something stupid, words that would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap are more like a term of endearment. A rule of thumb is "the more F's, the better." If one can find a way to fit 4 or 5 into one sentence while talking to you, consider yourself blessed.
4th of July
The 4th is a mandatory day off for all employees, and production at Blue Bunny shuts down. Based on the ethnicity of the plant, I have coined together a way for production to avoid holidays only celebrated by Americans. In theory, I have proposed that the Hispanics can have Cinco De Mayo off and work the 4th, and Americans work Cinco De Mayo and take off the 4th. Production schedules would have to be light on both of those days because of the missing staff. I am not for sure how well this would work, but I would find it comical to see only Americans in the freezer.
Helmets
Each year Blue Bunny hires a huge amount of temporary or seasonal help during the summer months when production is at full capacity. With these new hires, comes the issuing of proper freezer gear. The hard hat given to all temps is a squeaky clean helmet with a name tag on it. This name tag is nice to help learn others' names, but in reality it is more like a driver's ed sticker on the side of a car. Regular employees are flying around on pallet jacks while the temps look like a teenage female driver. The name tag is almost an excuse for stupidity. No one ever gets mad at a driver's ed vehicle going the wrong direction on a one-way because you almost expect it. The same holds true at Blue Bunny. A new guy tipping a full pallet or running into a wall at a high speed is not out of the norm.
Gas
How could I write a post about an all male workforce without mentioning the passing of gas? What makes matters worse is that most employees are of Hispanic descent which means Hispanic food. I could probably stop there and you would understand, but I am going to color a better picture. Not only are the Hispanics pounding down the burritos and tacos during lunch, all employees have the option to pound down ice cream. Ice cream falls into the dairy category which typically stinges the nostrils upon exit. To top it all off, everyone is in super heavy duty freezer suits which usually means you penalize yourself just as much as everyone else when you let one loose. If you are a little confused by that, think dutch oven and you will understand. To add insult to injury, the freezer has the same effect on gas as it does everything else. They freeze. This freezing effect causes these smells to linger similar to what one would experience in a sauna.
Scotty
Scotty was another one of my favorite employees, and he is actually American. Scotty is a witty guy and is most likely a lifer. His comment during a pre-work meeting sums up the rest you need to know about Blue Bunny. A supervisor was complaining that he had worked 60 hours the previous week and was only paid for 40 of them. Without missing a beat Scotty replies "some guys in the freezer only worked 40 hours last week, but still got paid for 60." Classic factory work.
Well now you know a little what it is like to be a Blue Bunny man for a summer. There is more I could add but have refrained from it due to many eyes on this blog. Greg Johnson, Terri and possibly Kirk Talley, Beth Wilmeth I thank you for the extra views.
To wrap up this post I want to thank all those who have been regulars of the blog. School is around the corner and the blog is on its last straw until another time. I am unsure if this is a retirement speech or just preparing you for a hibernation/hiatus. We had a good run. Starting August 29, #funfactoftheday brought to you by @Big_D_Dammo and myself will be in full swing. All attention in the blogging world will shift to the Bachelor to the Rapture Madness as Cook analyzes each round to determine a winner.
Keep Rollin Yahtzees
