You Go To College for That?

One time the guy I was working for took me along to look at a job.  The job was located on a radar site.  There were a large number of steel poles set up.  They must have been 60 feet tall.  The poles were used to send signals into space and receive other signals back and transfer them into the building.

 

There must have been 10 to 15 poles all in a cluster on the grounds of the site.  We were walking among the poles, looking over the job.  The boss said to the man in charge of the whole project; “When these leaf out it should be nice and cool down here.”

 

Being warm in the winter and cool in the summer is a major concern in North Dakota and Montana.

 

The boss had a good sense of humor.  His wife related a story to me of one of the stunts he pulled.

 

The two of them had gone down to visit their son in college.  As they approached the front entrance to the main office building of the college, they could see some workmen on the roof working on something behind one of the parapets.

 

Of a sudden the boss broke into a run towards the building, waving his arms frantically and yelling; “Don’t jump!  Don’t jump!”  His wife was thoroughly embarrassed, as there was no one attempting to jump.  There was only the work going on behind the parapet.

 

Apparently, it didn’t get back to anyone in authority to come and see who needed to be rescued.

 

The company was located in a small town with a local college.  A motel had decided to turn some of their rooms into apartments to rent to the students.  As we entered a room to assess the job, the kids inhabiting the room were in various stages of undress.

 

It was a room full of boys and girls, lying about on the beds and couch.  There was no way to misunderstand what was going on in the room.  Additionally, the room’s occupants did not seem the least bit concerned that they were under observation by complete strangers.  They practically ignored us.

 

As we were leaving, walking the one block back to the shop I noted; “I didn’t know you had to go to college to learn how to do that.”

 

The reaction was not what I expected.  His neck stiffened.  His walk altered.  I could tell that he didn’t like my comment.

 

It was only later that I learned that his only son was in college at the time.