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By Root 530 0

transfixed on the TV screen, wondering whether or not the hit man Chev Chelios would stay alive long enough to settle the score with his nemesis. And on Friday, we could get up and either go to work, or we could sit out in the yard, insignificant to the rest of the world, and wait until noon when it was time for the volunteers to serve us lunch. But eventually we would all “get it”; whether it was that Friday or ten Fridays from then, eventually we would all wake up and realize that we were tired of the meaningless monotony of our lives, and that it was time for us to get going on living. Either that, or our allowed year at the shelter would run out, and we would be dismissed to the streets. Then, we would really get it.

Six thirty in the morning was the best part of my day, every day. No doubt about it. I was awake, I was clean, I was fed, and as the warm breeze hit my face when I walked out the front door of the shelter, I knew the day was mine. It was also reassuring to think that most of the rest of the people in the country were still sleeping or rolling out of bed while I was already out and about, getting a jump-start on the rest of my life.

Plus, this particular day was Friday. Everybody loved Friday, even if it meant another day at the labor agency performing crappy jobs for people who didn’t give a crap about us. And that’s where I was headed.

Even in the early morning, it was an ambitious walk, safety-wise, but it was my only option if I wanted to work that day. The EasyLabor van didn’t come to the shelter every day. Angela from EasyLabor had explained that Saturdays could be busy or slow, so I figured I’d work on Friday for a few bucks to go job hunting over the weekend.

EasyLabor had an abundance of construction tickets, so I went out on the first one that had a vacant spot. It happened to be located downtown on Cannon Street where they were turning a block of three-story houses into apartments, so I passed on the opportunity to ride the van and opted to take the two-mile walk. It was just after 7:00, and the ticket said to arrive at 8:00, so I knew I could make it there in time. That is, if I didn’t get lost. Which, of course, I did. Well, I don’t know if you would call it getting “lost” since I knew where I was, I knew where I was supposed to be, and I had passed by the construction site three times before another worker from EasyLabor came walking along and showed me exactly where to go. At least I had one more guy to be late with instead of arriving solo.

Ken, the foreman at the site, didn’t seem to care that we were late. He handed us each a shovel and gloves and pointed to a pile of dirt. “That pile needs to be spread over there. Take your time, though,” he said as he squinted up at the sun. “It’s gonna be hot as balls out here today.” Unlike other construction jobs, he apparently didn’t have a budget to adhere to, so he didn’t hang around to monitor our progress. In fact, I didn’t see Ken again until 12:30 when I went searching for him to ask if we could take a lunch break. He was on the backside of the roof instructing the subcontractors on what needed to be done to build the window arch over the third floor.

“Sure, take a break,” he said. “Take all the time you need. Just make sure that dirt pile is moved!”

Which it was. In fact, our work had been completed for over an hour. I had wanted to go find Ken after we finished, but my partner commanded me to relax for a while, and his body mass told me not to upset him. But then hunger pangs had begun to rumble in my stomach, and I couldn’t wait any longer. I devoured two packs of peanut butter crackers and three cans of Vienna Sausage before I realized that I would need to ease up a bit in order to stretch my personal supply of food as long as possible. If my work ethic was going to be the superhuman power behind the success of my journey, it was looking like my appetite was going to be my kryptonite.

The EasyLabor crew on this particular job was five strong, three men and two women. The other three had been hauling cinder blocks from the first