Bindery...........5th floor Building 3 bindery line 5.............. The machines conquer all.
Standing in the same spot, doing the same motion thousands of times a day........You would get the 1000 yard stare (seen in the war movies)..........The first week, you would think about everyone you ever meet........the next week you would think about every movie you ever saw...........the next week, about every place you would like to travel to.............................the next week think about every mistake you made...............the next week, someone would walk up and ask you "what are you thinking about?"
"NOTHING".......you would say........you were brain dead.
There is eternality!......................Some hours felt like it.
A good friend of mine, Jim Pipkorn (also from the Lanudry) who was also shafted to the "end sheet gluer" in the bindery, got so depressed that for months, he would come back to his room make himself some dinner and go to bed, at about 7:00 p.m...................I asked him why he was doing that, he said "It makes the days go by quicker"
We were counting our time............It was just like Viet Nam. You would ask a guy how long he had left. He would say "3 years 2 months to go"............we would say "You Poor bastard......that is after 1975, so you will never have any sex"........You should have seen the look on his face.
Of course there is no racial prejudice in the Lords house!............About 20% of the bethelites were black..................About 60% of the guys in the bindery were black. When I asked Calvin Chiyk (assistant factory overseer) why that was, he said it was "because the black 'brothers' have a NATURAL rhythm".............which you need on the machines.
I was dying every day...............I prayed "please God Get me out of here."
I found this picture of this old guy with grey hair, he was praying with a bible and a loaf of bread on a table, hands folded, maybe you have seen it? I hung it up in my locker. One day my floor overseer Phill Gouckinbil saw it and said "whats is this?...............This guy is not a witness! Because that is not a new world translation bible on the table" I said that "I thought he was! That he was one of the anointed ones, behind the the iron curtain and that was the only bible he could get!".........."mmmmmmmmmm" he said.
Well It must of worked........I got a job change 2 weeks later to the east frieght elavator building one.I thought I died and went to haven......I could walk around and I was my own boss......WOW freedom.
That is were I meet the press room animals...............Great guys.
There was the 5 floor ink room which was the "mash unit" of the factory..........these guys got away with murder. ........they had coffee breaks. They even had a place they could hide and one of them could take a nap, as the others were on look out. Their overseer was Norm Brecky............I really cool guy.......who would go to bat, for his boys, which he did do, more then once.
One day, down by glue room, I was standing there with Mike Stillman and 3 other guys Mike had this big wooden paddle about six ft. long. He was beating the harden glue with it and saying "FEED THE ROUNDER (a cruel bindery machine)........SLAP..........FEED THE ROUNDER ..........SLAP!.......please don't beat me, brother overseer..............FEED THE ROUNDER............SLAP!"........We were all laughing.......Just then walking up from behind us was none other then "Liver lips Linderman".....head bindery overseer! He stood there for a minute quaking..........finally he said " Just WHAT do think, would have happened if it was a TOUR that came over that bridge instead of ME!".............Mike Just stood there, with his paddle over his shoulder and said..........."Well I guess they would think we normal..........like everyone else!" .......Oh MY GOD, we are so screwed, I thought.................Linderman stood there with smoke coming out of his ears and with a hateful smile said "YOU...........HAVE DONE A VERY BAD THING".............and walked off.
That was it....... thought.............Bindery here we come!...........But no, Norm came through again.
That is, what is so nice about Bethel, it is the love! ..............and there is NO fear of man. LOL
Monday part 6