by Peter Freeman

Created on: March 05, 2009

When I was 17 years old I worked on a construction site in Scotland. We were building a factory just up the road from peacocks Cross in Hamilton. That's about 12 miles south of Glasgow. I was the youngest on the site.

Being the youngest has its consequences. The youngest always get the worst jobs and this place was no exception. Fortunately there was another young man, Eddie, who was only about 6 months older than me so we got to share the worst of it. This is the story of the worst of it.

The site was quite a distance from any houses sp there was no plumbing. A makeshift toilet had been built simply by nailing four sheets of plywood together, a somewhat waterproof roof and a chemical toilet inside. Eddie named this contraption the "The Thunderbox" and the name stuck, like a sheet to a blanket as it were.

I mentioned that the youngest get the worst jobs; well, Eddie and I had the task of periodically cleaning the Thunderbox. Not a pleasant task and we hated it. Then came the wonderful, long awaited day when we had plumbing installed in the building. Now we had indoor toilets much to everyone's relief. Though no one was happier than us two, especially when the boss gave us orders to "Burn the Thunderbox."

Over on one corner of the site was a pile of trash, mostly wood, that got piled up and burned. Eddie and I decided that the Thunderbox would end its days on the trash heap. He walked to one side of it and I walked to the other. The plan was to knock it over; let drain into the mud whatever would drain, and then carry it to the trash pile. With one mighty and co-coordinated blow the Thunderbox went down. The trouble was there was someone sitting on it at the time.

He crawled out of that box like a rat crawling out of a drainpipe. He was covered in glory and thoroughly traumatized. He didn't feel much like working the rest of the day especially after Eddie and I hosed him down. He put on spare coveralls and borrowed some old boots and went home.

I've told this story many times in a pub back home or in a bar here in America. The interesting thing is that some years ago I saw a movie called "Father's Day" starring Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. In this movie is a scene similar to the one I've just described. I can't help but wonder did someone steal my story. If so I don't want royalties but come on Billy or Robin, you could at least spring for my toilet paper.

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