[woofa.express]

I’m going to do a few stories on pilots, loader drivers and those I hold in high esteem – farmers.
The name Mary is phoney.

Frank Spencer.

His picture is above. the one on the left. The actor that is, not my driver.
Did you see the British TV show “some mothers do have them”.The star of the show was Michael Crawford playing Frank Spencer, a bumbling fool who messed up everything he handled and infuriated everyone he came incontact with. A good show. Well I employed a bloke by the name of Dick. Just the same as Frank Spencer thus I called him “Frank”. A likeable fellow but exasperating with continual unpunctuality, forgetfulness and bumbling.
Well Dick had recently left his wife and now had an attractive young girl friend. Her name was Mary. And Mary had worked on their family poultry farm and part of her farm duties was collecting the eggs.
I had hired a pilot by the name of Terry Walsh to help during rice sowing season. Dick’s job was loading Terry. Dick was always late. Well with a new sweet young thing named Mary, there was, I guess less incentive to get out of bed in the mornings. Well one morning Terry was waiting impatiently and walking around the aeroplane looking most anxious.I goes to Terry “what be the matter Terry?”. “She used to collect his eggs”says Terry “and she’s collecting his eggs again this morning”.
Well Dick was always messing things up. Go to work and forget to take a fuel hose, or tool box or chemical, or measuring bucket etc etc.
This was happening continually so I fired him. It’s not easy doing that especially with Dick for he was a likeable fellow and honest. Everytime I needed a hand who should appear but Dick. He would help and I’d hire him again. What do you know, it was on again, off again. Happened 3 times. The last time I fired him I wrote a pretty reference for him.
He applied to a large poultry farming company for a job.They called and I gave him a good wrap up. Said I’d be sorry to see him go.They asked why was he going. I thought quickly and said I have too many loader drivers and he was the last on. A lie of course. They accepted and I told Dick he would make an excellent poultry farmer. He asked why I thought that and I told him that everyone had to be good at something. I didn’t even feel badly for what I said.
I see Dick occasionally and yes he is still in the same job and has done very well. I still find him likeable and he must find wives likeable too. He is on his third now.