To get to my desk every morning, I use the back entrance that takes me directly past the Infrastructure Manager’s office that’s shared with his maintenance crew. It’s extremely convenient – they’re usually out of the office most of the day, fixing sinkholes and fallen trees. Being able to catch each other first thing really helps plan our days.
Usually the conversation goes like this:
Jules: “Hey, can you get me a big honkin’ pile of dirt?”
Inf. Manager: “No prob. Where does it go?”
– or -
Jules: “Hey, can you get me two new pop-up tents? And set them up?”
Inf. Manager: “No prob. Where do they go?”
– or -
Jules: “Hey, can you get me eleven white hard hats? For the council?”
Inf. Manager: “No prob. Where do they go?”
Last week, the conversation went a little differently.
Inf. Manager: “Hey, can you bring in your camera tomorrow to take pictures of little girls?”*
Jules: “…you want to run that by me again?”
Inf. Manager: “The Girl Scouts are coming to plant things on Coal Creek Parkway, and you take nice pictures. So I thought we could do a newspaper article or something.”
Jules: “Sure, no problem. Where do I go?”
So Newcastle’s Brownie Troop showed up last Wednesday night and I stood in 35 degree weather in my pointy black pumps and thin grey trousers, freezing my ASS off to take pictures of them. I loved it.
The Inf. Manager and the Maintenance Crew, who I usually only see doing work that requires heavy lifting and standing in the middle of traffic (oh my god, I have trust issues with crosswalks, nevermind hanging out on some TOTALLY RANDOM PART OF THE ROAD AND STAYING THERE FOR EXTENDED AMOUNTS OF TIME), or hear talking about the amazing qualities of a 2006 GMC 7500 dump truck – I got to watch them painstakingly set up a tidy little workspace for the girls with little cups and little waters and little gloves and little shovels. And then they served hot chocolate.
*Brain and heart…mellllllting*
They also gave this adorable planting lesson:
You can’t hear it, but I love that at the end one of the girls asks whether what he planted was broccoli, as if to imply, “I will die if you make me touch that, I swear to god.”
The whole thing had me flashing back to days long ago, when I was just a wee brownie myself. This is a photo of me and my friend, Dori, when our moms were troop leaders and taught us to make ribbon barrettes, among other groovy seventies things.
Brownie girls and Jello pudding, circa 1979-ish.
Holy Crap. Dori and I have been friends for 29 years. I just figured that out, right this minute. I had to use a calculator. AND call my mom. Because I’ve known her so long, I don’t even remember meeting her. The only person who’s known me longer – IS MY MOM.
I just blew my mind.
*I may have tweaked that quote juuuust a teensy bit – but not much. We love to tease our dear Inf. Manager for his talent to “over-share”. It’s adorable.
© 2007, jules.maas. All rights reserved.
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AAWWW!!
I remember being a brownie! I also remember planting too many plants to count (dad was a gardner).
I will note that I’m rather suprised he didn’t have them break up the root ball a little bit so the plant grew better but…. ok to each their own.