Sheeut, I don't even remember which one it was. It was back in the school days for about 4 years. I worked for a place called Cook Paint and Varnish Co. in Kansas City. The only benefit I could see that I got from being a union guy was that they would let me work.

It did provide me with my first picture of how unions "ad value" to the price of everything though. "Yo, Kid, don't open that valve, you're a batcher. You pick which valve needs to be opened. You can't open the valve. You'll have to call up a valve opener to open the valve. But when you do that, be sure you have a valve closer standing by to close the valve. The valve opener can't close the valve. Only a valve closer can close the valve. If the valve doesn't get closed, the paint will spill and we'll have to evacuate the plant until the cleaner-upers clean it up. Do you have a mixer scheduled to mix the paint after the valve opener opens the valve and the valve closer closes the valve? If not, we'll have to call the scheduler so he can schedule you a mixer. I don't think you're gonna make it kid. You don't seem to want to work." Me..."So how much does this gallon of paint that I'm batching sell for? I't only got about a buck worth of pigment in it and 50 cents worth of chemicals...the rest is water." "Oh that's the cheap stuff, it only sells for $60 per gallon. Gotta buy the can and transport it to the store, ya know. And the label...gotta get the label printed. Did I mention how the label gets glued onto the can? No? Well it'll have to wait it's break time right now."