The "Dump Truck Driver" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was returning from my part-time job as a mulch driver. I retired from teaching last year and decided to try a few new things to help pay for our vacations. On my way to my part-time job at the art gallery and frame shop in Neffsville, PA where I work a few days each week for a former student, Keith, I saw this sign at Brooklawn Farm asking for drivers to deliver mulch. Hey, I can do that. So, on my way home from the gallery that day I stopped at Brooklawn and talked to Jim E. Jim was also a former student who I had in my shop classes and who then became an Industrial Arts teacher after graduating from Millersville Univ. Jim taught school with me for a few years at MT, then decided to take over the family farming business when his father could no longer handle the work. Jim did get something from his years of teaching though. His wife! Was a language teacher at good old MTHS. Well, I stopped and saw Jim as I entered. "Hi, Mr. LDub," Jim said. "What can I do for you?" I responded with, "I saw your sign out front and want to drive that big dump truck sitting out front next to my car!" We talked about what is expected and I told him I only wanted a day or two a week and we agreed on times and wages. Wasn't the best paying job in the world, but looked like fun. In a few days I was behind the wheel of the big monster. Jim used a front end loader and filled the truck with the amount of mulch the customer had ordered and I was supposed to drive it to the customer's house. Today I am delivering a load of 5 scoops to Ken L. My first ever delivery. Ken was my shop teacher when I went to MT as a student and then taught with Jim and I for a few years. Therefore, he is old! He lives only about a mile from Brooklawn so I was there in a few minutes. He greeted me when I arrived and we talked for a while about the good old days. Then he showed me where he wanted the mulch. Right at the end of his driveway. That's easy so I backed up the truck and raised the bed. Bet you think something happened next. That's the way my stories usually go. Well it didn't. Everything went smooth and I started back to pick up my next load. But, as I was pulling in, there stood Jim with an angry look on his face. I got out of the truck and said, "What's the matter Jim?" Jim responded, "Ken just called and said he just pulled up to his house and saw you leaving. You dropped the mulch at the wrong house!" I just stared at him. I wondered why Ken said he had to go make a phone call as soon as I left. Jim's standing there holding 2 shovels. "Get back in the truck. We have to go shovel the mulch and take it to the right house," he says. Now, he never got to know Ken as well as I did over the years. Ken was the high school's practical joker. I stand there looking at Jim and start to laugh. "What are you laughing at? It's not funny," he says. "I'll bet you the dump truck and a load of mulch that I dropped it at the right house," I said. He started to mellow a little and realized he had been duped. I said, "Call Ken and tell him you don't guarantee that your delivery man will drop it at the right house!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.