I hope I get paid

Yesterday we went to pick up Megan at Bismarck. It is so nice having Chichi home. She is struggling with her entry into the fashion business in New York. Being over stressed she said she needed a break. As luck would have it a friend was able to provide her with free airline tickets in exchange for a favor I had done him. I helped put together his new 33ft sailboat, so he offered to fly Megan home. Many times this is how the economy works for Lord Kadizzle. Lord Kadizzle is a substitute milkman. When the regular worker cannot show up because he is on the potato harvest, Lord Kadizzle has to keep the little children fed. The economy in this country relies on temporary people far more than most of us may imagine. In a couple weeks I may be driving a truck to haul some corn. It will give me a place to hunt pheasants, and may put some money in my pocket. In North Dakota just about anyone can drive a beet truck in the fall. A lot of people make it an annual event. I gave it a try one time.

Megan has one employee in her sweat shop. She has become great friends with her spanish speaking helper. Megan said that her helper comes every day with the hope she will get paid. The helper would come even if there was no money to pay her, just because she has the hope someday she will get paid. I think I sometimes know the feeling. I have often found myself working for someone who expects me to be paid by giving me junk. I was whining to the commander about this on the way to Bismarck, and she said " That sounds like something you would pull", I had to agree, but I told her that when my medium of exchange is junk, I always make that clear before the job starts.

There is a sad side to this. Last year while traveling the south a rancher told us about how an apple grower in Washington State cheated some illegal immigrants. The apple grower had the immigrants pick his entire crop, then called the border patrol to haul them away before they were paid. In the great border debate, a lot of people forget who is benefiting. The apple grower had the audacity to brag about what he had done.