The Night Shift

… I traveled about 10 miles to get to the UPS loading hub which was next to the Detroit City Airport. My new work place. The city always held an industrial ambiance but on late nights, on the east side, one could always smell what seemed to be potato chips in the wind. The Better Made Potato Chip factory was working full production tonight for sure. You could taste them if you took a deep breath. It only took me 20 minutes to get to work. Not too much traffic at 3:30AM. This will be nice I thought out loud. The warehouse was just starting to open up. The semis were already parked 8 deep filling all of the dock spaces. I punched in and went into the main warehouse where I met my supervisor. He was happy to have me aboard and he motioned for another employee to come over to where we were standing. He introduced me to the guy I would be working with unloading the trucks.

.. .He shook my hand and stated that he all ready knew a lot about me because he was a friend of a mutual friend. I smiled and questioned him, “Dave?” He smiled again shaking his head. Wow, I thought what a small world. His name was Sam. Our supervisor informed me that Sam would show me the ropes. Mainly how to unload the trucks without getting hurt. It was a lot of fun, and a great work out. They played a non stop, night time radio station WJZZ, “all jazz- all the time,” and by the time my shift was over, I was ready for a shower. We unloaded two full semi trailers, which had been packed to precision. No wasted space. My supervisor wanted to know if I would be back tomorrow? I smiled, and said, “of course.” Sam laughed as well. We got to talk during our break and he informed me that Dave had told him what happened to me at TRW and that he knew a good lawyer if I wanted to pursue a law suit.

…I told him I was just glad to be out of there, and felt God was watching my back. I was grateful to be working at UPS. I didn’t want anything from TRW but my last check. I didn’t miss the factory. On a night like tonight, it would be at least 105 degrees inside the plant, if not hotter. This building was airconditioned, and besides, the factory job I got right out of high school. I wanted to put all of that behind me now, and push on an enlightened path. I would be starting my second year of college working on a Liberal Arts Degree and deciding what courses I needed to take to complete it. In the near future, I would have to decide what university I would apply to but right now I just wanted to enjoy the summer! Working here looked very promising, and I made sure to thank Jesus on a regular basis. I hadn’t been this happy in a long time. ….My Life’s Journey…to be continued……