The Triplewide

I used to have a job where I worked in a triple wide trailer. As an employee there I felt it was important to live up to the standards that working environment exemplified. Apparently so did everyone else that worked there – It was probably the only place I have ever been where everyone else approached my level of sarcasm, bad attitude, and general buttonpushingness (I made that one up).

So anyway we were a bunch of hooligans working in a trailer. One day one of my co-workers received a phone call from a fax machine. We have all been there, you pick up the phone to a whining, beeping, screaming, angry machine. Said co-worker slams down the phone with a curse – he is letting it all hang out as the boss is gone.

Co-workers phone rings again. Fax machine again. More anger this time with a double expletive and a phone super slam. Dude was wound a bit tight sometimes – he was a retired marine after all.

Smelling opportunity three of us start taking turns faxing the guys phone from the office fax machine – there was a perfect delay so that you could dial the fax and be back in a choice viewing location before his phone rang. Dude lost his marbles, turning red and screaming, pounding the phone – the rest of us were rolling on the floor laughing and crying.

Finally I make the suggestion he should try and speak fax to it. He tried it. At the top of his lungs – wirrrrrrrrr, beeeep, beeeep, beeeep, Ioouuuuggahhh, Ioooouuugggaahhh, screeeeaaacccchhhh. Everyone else in the triple wide had caught on and was dying laughing. We stopped calling. Dude thought he had actually talked to a fax machine.

The best part was that the boss had called someone in the office during his fax imitation and heard the whole thing.

His name was Joe. Joe died last week. He was riding his motorcycle and got hit by someone who crossed the centerline.

What I wouldn’t give to fax him one more time.

Hold your friends and family close. Do it now.