Cedric the Entertainer

Well, I officially have myself a new career and a new found friend.

I have found myself a job on an assembly crew that puts together outdoor furniture, and assembles grills, mowers, wheel barrows, and just about anything that comes in a box or crate, that a customer doesn't want to tackle.

My trainer this week has been a guy named Cedric.  I told him he reminded me of "Cedric, the Entertainer".  It has been very entertaining watching my Cedric at work.  This week we were assigned tasks to complete at several home improvement stores in the area.  As fast and efficient as Cedric works, he always stops what he is doing to help a store customer find an item or point them in the right direction.

Before I started this job, I was notorious for not reading the instructions.  Both my Mom and the spousal unit said now would be a good time to start reading them for a change!  Ha!  Wrong!  Cedric, the Entertainer said, "Bill, we ain't got time for that"!  He shows me how to assemble a new item one time, then he keeps a watchful eye one me to make sure that I'm making the right kind of progress.

The first day all I brought were hand tools, thinking a lot of wrenches and sockets would do, along with a variety of screw drivers, etc...  Cedric laughed, and said "oh Lord, you ain't gonna make it to lunch with that"!  He fixed me up with a spare screw gun.  Next day I had make trusty Dewalt with me.  Both days a few screws came real close to being stripped.  Third day I had myself an impact driver.  Oh what a life saver that investment has been!  Here I thought I had all the tools needed and I've already been to the store twice, with one more to go!

On day three we got overloaded with work, and a third guy, Keith, came on board.  Keith is almost as fast as Cedric.  I was working away, and began hearing what appeared to be two sources of music coming out of the Store's overhead speaker.  I mentioned to Cedric that that was driving me nuts!  He got a big laugh out of this one, because Keith had hooked up his personal radio and it was blaring at about the same volume as the overhead!

One of our projects on this day was to service several riding lawnmowers.  These come from overseas in crates.  Keith was working on one that was overloaded with staples.  Keith mentioned out loud, "why does this crate have so many staples in it?"  I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to say, "well, when that Chinese guy heard that this particular crate was going to America, rat-a-tat-tat!"  We all got a big laugh out of that one!

Cedric has been real good about offering hints and suggestions for me as I learn my new craft.  One thing I have learned, is that he is also quite a politician.  It didn't take me very long to understand his compassion for working women.  He goes out of his way to help the female store clerks, and they in turn, light up in smiles when he comes around the corner.  He does a lot for them, but boy does it pay dividends when he needs something from them.

I have always taken pride in my work ethic, but Cedric the Entertainer, has set the bar!