Shreds of Pride

One of the steps of cleaning a production line at the ice-cream factory is running "The Power Scrubber". It's like a floor burnisher, except it's meant for scrubbing soapy floors instead of polishing dry ones. I've used floor burnishers before, so I thought I was familiar with the machine, but when I started it up, it nearly jerked free of my hands because it was so powerful. And not only was it powerful, but it also functions in an odd way. By either lifting slightly up or pushing slightly down on the handle, The Power Scrubber will either move to the right or the left while also trying to dart forward, forcing the operator to have a firm hold and a ready stance to keep from losing control of the machine or being physically harmed.

The first time I used the machine, I could hardly keep the thing under control. I tried to make it go a little to the left and--BANG!--right into a freezer. Then I tried to make it go left-BANG!--it smashed into the legs of a stand. This happened repeatedly, all the while I was trying to not slip or be pulled off my feet. And what made it even worse was that my co-workers noticed the difficulty I was having. They must have also been discussing it, too, because, later on that day, a manager who hadn't been present during my first Power Scrubber fiasco approached me and said "I hear The Power Scrubber kicked your butt" to which I replied "I think I gave it a run for its money." The manager laughed at the response, nodded as if he didn't believe me, patted me on the back in sympathy, and walked away. Jerk.

Since then, I have learned how to control--or at least have better control of--The Power Scrubber, but I still have occasional issues. The most frequent problem involves running over the power cord. When I reach the end of the cord length and try to double back, I sometimes run it over. The powerful spinning scrubber sucks the cord underneath and twists it around the big green scrubbing pad, jolting it out of my hands and making it hop about as if it is having a violent seizure. But, hey, it's not practically dragging me across the floor anymore. I'll take what shreds of my pride I have left and work with that.

Daily Ice-Cream Intake
1 Ice-Cream Candy Bar, 1 Orange Sherbet Push-Up (I'm not losing my love of ice-cream. I only worked three hours today. Don't worry. I am still obsessive.)

(see also The Summer of Free Ice-Cream (A Running Tally))