“I’ve had this,” Max said to me one morning”
“Look at that bloody mess my light table has been left in again. Bruce must have done some work on it after we went home last night and didn’t bother to tidy up after himself. Bloody arrogant untidy bastard.”
I said: “He did the same thing to me one night last week. Film and paper and shit left all over the place.”
“Well,” declared Max, “This is the last straw. When he comes in I’m going to have a go at him him about it, foreman or no bloody foreman. I’m not afraid of him. He doesn’t frighten me like he does all you guys.”
“Bullshit. I’m not scared of him, no way. In fact, when he comes in I’ll have a go at him myself. And while I’m at it I’ll also tick him off about all the equipment he borrowed and never bothered to return. He just bloody takes it as if it’s all his and leaves it all over the bloody factory. Not bloody good enough.”
“All right then. While we’re at it we might as well bring up that time when we had to pay for our own beer at the christmas breakup and then he left us stranded in the middle of nowhere with no transport while he drove everyone else home in the hire bus.”
“We might as well ask for that pay increase we were entitled to six months ago while we’re at it.”
“I’ll just tell him that we’re completely cheesed off with his attitude towards us and the shabby way he’s treated us over the last couple of years.”
“And I’ll back you right up there. He won’t dare sack the both of us, no way.”
“Oh, no way.”
Just then “Happy Jack” stomped into the room, a scowl on his face that would make ‘grumpy’ look like the court jester.
As he walked past our tables he grumbled: ” G’day Max.”
“G’day Bruce.”
“G’day Tony.”
“G’day Bruce.”
After he’d said his good mornings to all of the others and walked out of the room, Max turned to me with a huge grin on his face and said: “We sure told the bastard off that time, didn’t we mate.”