The Little Boop

Back in the day when we used to be able to play a bit...

Tony and Sam had been working downtown at the supermarket construction site for four months. Both operated much of the heavy equipment machinery needed to push, haul, and move dirt, materials, and other machinery around the site. Neither had lifted a shovel with their hands in years, having thankfully “graduated” from that type of labor.

Instead, they were in the sun all day shoving gears, following directions, and enjoying the comfort of a padded seat. It was hard work nonetheless, but not nearly backbreaking as slinging dirt with a shovel.

Lunch time was always welcome at the site. Fifty men all lined the streets of the city with their lunch buckets and bags, and chowed down on whatever goodies their wives had prepared for them. It was also a chance to chew the fat with those they were closest to in life. Nothing was ever off topic.

Fifteen minutes before their break was up, Tony and Sam had finished lunch and were just enjoying the city sites, namely the well-dressed people on their lunch breaks. They were just outside the fenced in construction zone, leaning against the fence. Concrete barriers separated pedestrians from the vehicle traffic. There was enough room for pedestrians to walk four-wide between the barriers and the chain link fence, so Sam and Tony against the fence took up about what would be the equivalent of half a person. They weren’t obstructing the pathway, but it was a construction site so people were used to the slight detours and inconveniences.

In the 45 minutes they were there, hundreds had passed them. Their game was to guess what they did after they passed by and out of earshot. It was also the only time during the day the two could stand and stretch, so they welcomed that break in the monotony.

County Memorial was two blocks away, and three nurses dressed in dark purple scrubs maneuvered around the barriers to pass by Tony and Sam. The nurse nearest the workers, Katie, her name tag said, stuck out her finger, poked Sam in his protruding belly, and said, “Boop.”

Caught off by the action, Sam said, “Ya had to do it, Lady, didn’t ya? Ya just had to do it.”

She turned back, giggled and waved, and continued chatting with her co-workers.

“Treadmill tonight?” Tony asked Sam.

“Eh, probably the rowing machine,” Sam said.