Like A Coal Miner With a Pay Check

This morning on CBS they interviewed John Waters. He is a strange movie maker in Baltimore that did among other movies "Pink Flamingos" He gave the following quote on the CBS show: "I work every day. In the morning I think up weird things," Waters said. "In the afternoon I sell them — Monday to Friday. Every Friday night I go out like a coal miner with a paycheck, have a couple of drinks whatever city I'm in."

The quote brought back a fond memory for me. When I was in college, I worked as an underground coal miner at the Shoemaker Mine in Benwood, West Virginia. When I worked there the mine was under development, and so it had no regular mine portal like most mines do. The main portal was on the Ohio River, that is where the tipple was, and where the coal cars came out, but all the regular employees entered the mine on Main Street in Benwood. It was a strange circumstance. The coal company used an old house for a changing shack, and it was almost like you went out in the back yard and into the mine.

Friday was payday, and I remember so well, emerging from a hole on mainstreet, and walking across the street to a bar where all the coal miners cashed their checks. Usually it turned into a drunken mess of some sort. One Friday morning I emerged from the mine and immediately started to drink. It did not take long for the beer to take effect. The next thing I knew I was challenging a much larger coal miner to a fight. The prize would be both of our paychecks. At that time my check was for $1,200. We put both paychecks on the bar and the fight was about to begin. By the grace of God some sober miner intervened, and did not let the fight take place. Later in the day, I thankfully realized how close I came to paying someone $1,200 to beat me senseless. To this day I have learned a lesson there are many people who would be very happy to beat me senseless for free.