The One-eyed Contractor

It's a short story about problems on the job.

      Mr. Livingston was an old contractor in the field of arc welding and metal fabrication. He had a welding shop on Alexander Road. His wife was older than he was. The one-eyed contractor was a dishonest person, and he used to drink a lot. Moreover, he did not have the ability to reason, and he was quick to start quarrels and fights. Consequently, he lost his left eye in a fistfight.

      Paul otherwise known as Welda and Tall Man were welder-fitters who worked for Mr. Livingston. Paul called the boss Baldy because he was a bald-headed man. Tall Man had more skills than Paul did, and he was the best tradesman who had ever worked for Mr. Livingston.

      The one-eyed man got a job to build a long signboard around the top of a gas station at the intersection of Molynes Road and Washington Boulevard. Tall Man was the chief engineer on the project that took about two weeks to complete. The work began fairly well, but things started to go badly.

      One day Paul went to work without a tape measure because he had lost the one that he had. He went to Mr. Livingston to borrow his tape measure. “Could I borrow your tape, Baldy?” he asked. Mr. Livingston said, “A good tradesman doesn’t borrow tools.” Moreover, he asked him, “What happened to your tape?” Paul explained the reason for borrowing the tape measure. Mr. Livingston loan him the tape measure and said, “Remember to bring a tape with you tomorrow.” In the evening, Paul went to a hardware store and bought a new tape measure.

      The following week Welda worked overtime on Monday and Tuesday, and he arrived at work two hours late on Wednesday and one hour late on Thursday. Tall Man was upset about it because he alone had to handle the workload during those hours. Moreover, he knew that an argument would develop between Paul and Mr. Livingston over the matter.

      Unfortunately, the tables had turned for Mr. Livingston. He forgot to bring his tape measure to work with him on Friday, so he went to Welda to borrow a tape measure from him. “You told me that a good tradesman doesn’t borrow tools,” he said. Mr. Livingston was embarrassed. Anyway, Welda loan him the tape measure. “Make sure you don’t damage it,” he said.

      At midday, Mr. Livingston was speaking to someone in a white car that was parked near the gas station. The person was sitting in the car and Mr. Livingston rested his hands on top of the vehicle. When the driver drove off, Mr. Livingston realised he had mistakenly left the tape measure on top of the car. The measuring tape fell off the car and another car ran over it and smashed it to pieces.

      He did not know what to say to Paul, but he approached him and told him what had happened. “I want back my tape today,” Paul said. “I’ll buy you a new tape,” Mr. Livingston said. Later that day Mr. Livingston bought an old second-hand tape measure from someone, but he did not give it to Paul right away.

      In the evening, Mr. Livingston paid the workmen, and he gave Welda the tape measure that he had bought for him. He examined it and said, “This is not a new tape, I don’t want it.” Mr. Livingston said, “Nothing is wrong with it, I borrowed a tape from you, and I gave you back one.” Welda responded, “I loan you a new tape, so I want a new one.” He gave the tape measure back to Mr. Livingston, and then he counted his pay.

      “You underpaid me, this is not the right amount of money,” he said. “What are you talking about?” Mr. Livingston asked. “You didn’t pay me for overtime,” he replied. “Overtime! You came to work late two days, and now you’re talking about pay for overtime,” Mr. Livingston said. “As far as I’m concerned, I owe you nothing,” he added. After Mr. Livingston had said those things, he picked up a newspaper, sat down on a building block, and he began to read it. Tall Man had been observing the happening the whole time, but he did not intervene in the dispute.

      Paul walked up to Mr. Livingston and said, “Baldy, give me my money and my tape now.” Mr. Livingston looked over his spectacles at him and said, “It seems that you don’t understand English, I’ve already said I owed you nothing.” The sarcastic response infuriated Paul, so he kicked Mr. Livingston in the chest. The force of the blow plunged him backward, and he fell on his back. Mr. Livingston quickly got up, grabbed a piece of angle iron and swung it at Paul.

      At that moment, Tall Man tried to stop the fight. “Stop fighting and solve the matter peacefully, gentlemen!” he shouted, but it made no difference. Paul immediately picked up a piece of hollow structural section to defend himself. Both men cursed each other, and they fought fiercely.

      Some male employees of the gas station who were watching them went and broke up the fight in time, so no one was seriously injured. Mr. Livingston fired Paul because of the incident. Three months later, Tall Man and Mr. Livingston had a disagreement, and he decided to quit his job.

 

The End

Author's Note

Have fun, readers.