With Gusto

Advice From A Loser

So I worked today, moving a lot of junk for rich people who've downsized to a large style condo next to a golf course. Thing is, is that I was working out of Esquimalt. If you're not in the know how, Esquimalt is a small section of Victoria filled with the types of folks who wear mullets and go around making comments about the weather being hot enough. Or cold enough. Or not of either. Anyways, this one dude, Ben, who works for Moving Company, starts calling me a hippy, or whatever, because he's bored and kinda lost. I was in a massive truck, fucked if I knew what kind it was, with three other dudes crammed into the cab. One dude had a mullet tied back into a pony-tail, kept on furrowing his brow and frowning at everything, repeating contradictory orders from the dude in charge, Ken. Along with us was this guy from Cuba. I asked him how Fidel was doing, and he replied, "Fidel is doing very good. He's making lots of money."
I had spent 12 bucks on a cab and bus fare to get to work, so at the end of the day I ask for a ride home and Ken says, "Are you nuts? Don't you have a car?"
"No," I say. "I've spent my money on other things."
"Well you know," Ken says. "It is your responsibility to get to and from work. You can make a success out of yourself, but it is your responsibility."
"Well," I say. "I have spent my money on other things."
"You could've spent that money on a car, and you could be making a success out of yourself."
"Well," I say. "When I want life advice from a mover, maybe I'll ask."
"Was that an insult?"
Then the guy with the tied-back mullett says, "Why don't you move out of your mom's house, Ken?"
"Move out? Why?" Ken says.
Fuck! Who does this guy think he is, Parry Mason? If I wanted the moral to an abridged Parry Mason novel, I would've asked. So after awhile, I get let off downtown and walk home.
Luckily on the way home, I stop off at the old residence and pick up some mail. A poet I quite respect had sent me a rather flattering letter with some rather helpful advice. Which made me feel better, but I can't stand dudes like Ken. Type A dick-face, with a lot to learn from in the way that I can't learn a thing from.