Lanark_ a life in 4 books - Alasdair Gray [111]
“Danger?” said Thaw.
“There’s a bit of danger. You’ll be battering away at something when the folk nearby start shouting. You wonder who they’re yelling at this time, and they yell louder and it strikes you, ‘Christ, what if it’s me?’ and you turn and there’s a ten-ton girder swinging toward you on the overhead crane.”
“That’s hellish! Are there no rules against that sort of thing?” “There’s meant tae be a lane kept clear up the middle of the shed, but in a work like McHargs it’s not easy.”
Coulter chuckled.
“A weird thing happened the other day. This bloke was directing the lowering of a girder from the crane; you know, he was standing underneath directing the lowering with his hands (you cannae hear a word in that din); you know−lower, lower, a bit to the left; all right, let it go now. The funny thing was, he was looking up at the bloke at the controls most of the time and he didnae notice that at the last moment he directed the girder to be lowered ontae his foot. He gave a scream like a soprano hitting a top note. We all looked to see what the matter was, but it took a while tae find out. He was standing up like the rest of us, only his foot was crushed under this girder. He couldnae even fall down!”
Thaw gave an appalled laugh and said, “You know that’s very funny but—”
“Aye. Well, anyway, this business of being a man keeps you happy for mibby a week, then on your second Monday it hits you. To be honest the thought’s been growing on you all through Sunday, but it really hits you on Monday: I’ve tae go on doing this, getting up at this hour, sitting in this tram in these overalls dragging on this fag, clocking on in this queue at the gate.’ Hullo, here we go again!’ ‘You’re fuckin’ right we go!’ and back intae the machine shop. You realize you’ll be spending more of your life in this place than anywhere, excepting mibby bed. It’s worse than school. School was compulsory—you were just a boy, you neednae take it seriously, you could miss a day if your mammy was agreeable and wrote a note. But engineering isnae compulsory. I chose it. And I’m a man now. I have tae take it seriously, I have tae keep shoving my face against this grindstone.”
Coulter was silent for a while.
“Mind you, this feeling doesnae last. You stop thinking. Life becomes a habit. You get up, dress, eat, go tae work, clock in etcetera etcetera automatically, and think about nothing but the pay packet on Friday and the booze-up last Saturday. Life’s easy when you’re a robot. Then accidents happen that start you thinking again. You know the Royal visit last week?”
“Aye.”
“Well, there’s a railway line at the back of the works, and the Royal train was to go along it at three in the afternoon, so the whole work got time off tae see it. So when the train comes along there are four or five hundred of us at the edge of the line in our greasy overalls. The Queen’s in the first carriage looking dead cool and gracious and waving; and in the middle are a lot of old men like Lord Provosts with chains round their necks, all waving like mad; and in a sort of observation car at the end sits the Duke in his wee yachting cap. He’s sitting at a table with a glass of something on it, and he gives us a wave, but more offhand. And we all just stand there, glowering.”
Thaw laughed. “Did nobody wave? I think I’d have waved. Just out of politeness.”
“With the whole Union there? They’d have hanged ye. You can laugh, Duncan, but the sight of the Duke set