Sandra and I have both posted about when we worked in the Commissary at the county Jail. Here is another story from that interesting and fun job.
There were two Judys on the Commissary team. The need to distinguish between them resulted in their being known in the group as Good Judy and Bad Judy. Actually, Good Judy was always called "Good Judy," while Bad Judy's name was often shortened simply to "Bad."
Bad was the shortest member of the team, which often resulted in "short" jokes at her expense.
The two men who delivered the majority of the products sold from the Commissary, Terry and Mike, were very funny guys in their own right; but their humor seemed to take on a life of its own whenever they made a delivery to us in the Commissary.
None of us were immune to Mike's and Terry's practical jokes and verbal humor. They would rearrange things at our work stations, maybe tape a stapler to a desk or adjust the height of someone's office chair. But it did seem as if Bad might have been on the receiving end of more of their attention than some of the rest of us.
They always made a big deal of asking her if they were stacking the chips that we sold to inmates too high for her to reach. Once they took a pair of gym shoes and nailed them to blocks of wood and presented them to her, to give her another few inches of height.
Another time, they each took a pair of gym shoes and placed them side by side on the floor, then knelt on them so that it looked as if they were a couple of very short guys wearing gym shoes...then waited for Bad Judy to notice that she was no longer the shortest person in the Commissary.
The days that Mike and Terry made their deliveries to the Commissary were always a bright spot for those of us who worked there. We were a fun group and never lacked for laughter, but Mike and Terry just brought their own special brand of humor to add to ours.
Cute story, Linda.... I'll bet working at the Commissary was really interesting... Glad Make and Terry brought some great laughs to you all ---and sorry that Bad Judy received the 'brunt' of their jokes... By the way, my best friend is a Judy --and she is about 4' 10" I think... She's TINY ---and I'm sure she has had her share of short jokes.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
Mike and Terry sound like a hoot. I laughed at the mental image of them wearing shoes at their knees. It sure sounds like you folks had a lot of fun there.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun place to work...and you might not think a jail commissary would be so light hearted. How interesting! What fun memories. :)
ReplyDeleteThese are great memories. :)
ReplyDeleteBetsy - Life in the Commissary was definitely interesting. And Terry and Mike were big contributors to that!
ReplyDeleteHilary - Mike and Terry were definitely a hoot. I only wish I'd gotten an actual photo of them kneeling on those shoes. But your mental image of that is probably clearer than any photo of mine would have been. :)
Elizabeth - We worked hard and fast, but we had a lot of fun doing it. It was a great team.
Sandra - Great memories...so true. It was just one of those special work environments where the personalities meshed in a way that made going to work fun...even at those ungodly morning hours. ;)
Sometimes a good laugh makes time slip quickly by.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Steve. So true.
ReplyDeleteA pleasant, convivial workplace is a joy. Glad you experienced it.
ReplyDeleteFrank - I had fun at my three successive career jobs, too; but there was just something special about the group that worked together in the Commissary. It was a good experience on which to end my working life. :) Thanks for visiting.
ReplyDeleteFUN-NEE!
ReplyDeleteAt work, my friend Mamacilla and I are known as the twins - she's tall and African-American, I'm short and pale beyond comparison. But we've been best friends so long, we feel like twins. One day our boss got word that one of the twins needed him, and he asked, "Which one, the good twin or the bad twin?"
Just for the record, I'm the good twin!
Funny how we (or at least, I) can dislike my job so much, but have such good times with the people there.
ethelmaepotter! - I love hearing about your co-workers. But you could have the best co-workers in the world and still hate going to work if you didn't make it a point to look for something good in even a bad situation. Attitude is everything, especially when you're in a job you don't really like. Your co-workers make things fun for you, but I'm sure you do the same for them. You all make a good team.
ReplyDelete