One summer day a friend told me about a
great job that was open. There was a man that bought potatoes in
Bordentown, N.J. and trucked them back to Newark in time to sell
them at the farmer's market. The trucker was looking for two people
to drive to Bordentown with him, load the 100lb. sacks of potatoes
on the truck, and then unload them at the market. My friend Bob
and myself applied for the job and were hired.
The next day we met at the truckers house at 1200 midnight. By
230 A.M. we were at the potato farm in Bordentown. It was expected
that we would have the truck loaded in an hour which would give
us enough time to drive back to Newark and unload the truck at the
market.
One problem cropped up, neither Bob or myself could lift a 100lb.
sack of potatoes. It took both of us to lift one bag. This meant
that Murray, the trucker and the farmer had to pitch in with the
loading. If the truth be known, they did most of the work.
During the ride back to Newark Bob and I sat in the back of the
truck and ate the sandwiches we had brought along with a bottle
of warm soda.
Back at the market we unloaded the truck as we had loaded it.
Bob and I took one bag between us while the trucker took one bag
by himself.
Our day of work ended at about 730 A.M. We were supposed to receive
a dollar each for our work. Murray handed Bob a one dollar bill
and said, "This is for the both of you. You only did half a
job."
By Murray's standards we did do only half a job. Looking back
on the day it seems that Bob and I were about 13yrs, or 14yrs old.
Could it be that Murray had no right to expect more than "a
half a job" or had, we been conned?
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