It was late Thursday afternoon, and we were at one of our last accounts for the day.
I hadn’t felt well when I woke up, and as the day wore on, I started to feel weaker and weaker. I was pretty sure that I was coming down with a cold, or even a flu. I was sweating more than normal, and over the past hour, I’d started to feel feverish.
The guys unloaded the weed-whackers and leaf-blowers from the trailer, then scattered like pigeons to get to work.
As I reached up to unhook a trashcan, a wave of dizziness came over me. I gasped, lowering my head. My mouth felt dry, and I realized that I hadn’t been drinking enough water throughout the afternoon.
Feeling exhausted, I sat on the trailer’s wheel well, holding my head in my hands. I felt too weak even to move.
“Hey!” yelled Crew Leader Carl. He came stomping forward. “What the hell is this? Why aren’t you working?”
“Sorry, Boss,” I said. “I got dizzy all of a sudden. I think I might be coming down with something.”
“Then come down with it on your own time, and not the company’s!” Carl said, yelling. “We’re not paying you to loaf. If you want to sit on your dead ass all day, then get an office job! On this crew, we work!”
And with that, he hopped on the ride-on mower and putted away, leaning back in the seat with his left foot propped on the wheel.
The Lawn-Cutting Crew 