''Poppa Lash''

″Poppa Lash″

Back in the 50′s 60′s 70′s.......and probably the early 80′s....the City, of W-S, garbage neighborhood collection, was one man, rolling a 60 gallon, orange barrel from back yard too back yard, I was very observant as a child, and curious......these Men, had girlfriends on their routes, and sometimes, they would stop at a house, where cars always would be parked in the driveway and front yards, which were obvious neighborhood, drink houses, aka, ″Liquor house″..how do, I know, because. I was raised in one as a child, and as a teenager, the fascinating thing about these Men, was probably better explained by ″Physics″ or Geometry, because how else can you explain too me, that a 150 pound, Man, rolling a empty barrel just has easy as a full barrel.....these Men, had mastered the Art of defining the law of gravity, I’ve seen this with my own eyes, as a child and as a teenager,....I have rolled tires for entertainment, even rolled two at a time, so I know things can be done, with proper balance and technique, however these Men, would roll down steep driveways, steep yards, they could maneuver these loaded down canisters, over curbs, and holes in the street, they rolled like they were feathers, I’ve seen them roll two canisters, they had too be in decent physical shape, this is a lot of lifting, and dumping, lifting these, bad as trash cans, and people acting like this is bulk, pickup,, they not moving chairs and mattress’s...old toilets, and sinks, and ....listen, ..and once you reach the truck, you gotta lift these packed, barrels, waist high, and flip the load, they probably averaged three houses per dump, the driver, not gone do but so, much, those two, swinging on the side, of the truck, responsible for most pickup, and once a few get that ″scawl″, ..aka, white liquor in his system, he definitely ready too rock and roll......because he is locked and loaded.....however, if one stops, too get a piece, of turtle doving, loving, he most likely gone drag a few hours, until he get his strength back. I’m only making light of this story,.....these Men, worked hard, they had too condition themselves too fight the element.....the maggots, the rank odor, the dogs, the ungrateful home owner or renter, mouthing off, making their job, twice as hard and bitter, there were no perks, that I know of, other than the creeping and drinking, a few done, the job, was probably the highest paying in the old days, the City pay was decent, not like R.J.Reynolds.......but it was decent and easy too get hired, if you couldn’t find a job, in the City back in the old days you were just lazy as hell, we even had a ″Buzzard Root″, corner, were unemployed skilled labor craftsman, brick layers, and other masonry, and Men, willing too work, for good wages, could jump in the truck, and make your days money, everyday of the week, Proprietors would come through, looking for workers, this in the old days was the immigrant, hustle, ....those from the City of W-S, know this......no such thing as you couldn’t find, work, hell, I had two,jobs.

″I remember″

My Father-in-Law, ″Poppa Lash’ had this gentle spirit, never ever heard him, raise his voice, at anytime, and he had four boys and two, girls, never heard him, shout or yell, he was always, full of laughter, and a great sense of Humor, he was a longtime Waste Truck driver for R.J.Reynolds, I would see, him places during the day in passing he would always wave and smile, we played checkers often, I can remember, he always calculated how many moves I, had left in the checker game, always told me..

″take your time, you got about three moves left, it’ll be over before you, know it″

I could never beat, ″Poppa Lash″ , I was excited for a draw, that was a win in my mind, .he was old school, and a devoted father, our porch conversations, I value the most, because he kept things real, he say what he had too say and he was done talking, about it, love some westerns, and a police scanner, he had this hoveround he rode all the time, with a whip antenna about 15 feet in the air with an American flag on the tip, I could see, him, way up the road coming,

″old glory, just flapping, in the air″...Poppa Lash, was something else, ..... longtime Deacon at Baileytown Christian Church, yes, he was one of those Deacons, who, go too God, in Prayer on one knee, have the whole, Church, tore up, before, Dr. King even preached his message, Poppa Lash, go too God in Honor, and reverence, just as if it was just him, and God, in a room, and he pleading his case and asking God, for his grace, and mercy towards his , family, and all, mankind, he was a firm believer that if you can’t talk to nobody else,

″you can talk too God″

He was in a accident, one Saturday morning, on the rural stretch of highway 311, I think, he was coming from the Flea Market, he wrecked his truck, almost turned it over, and was trapped inside he managed too reach and pull out his famous ″case″ pocket knife he always kept, like most older Men, he cut his seat belt off, and escaped, without injuries, and was standing outside the truck when, EMS, arrived, that was a huge scare for the family, Poppa Lash, had a nice voice singing voice too, I remember, riding too Walnut Cove for the very first time, and everybody, and I do, mean everybody, downtown, waved as you passing through at 25 mph that’s the speed limit, might be 35 mph, now, but I, kinda, doubt it, I had never experience everybody waving before it was fun, waving at everybody like I’m in a parade,

″hey, ...hey, how you, hey, hey″,....it felt good, I start too turn around and go back through...″.just to wave some more″

I remember, visiting, Ma Lash, and Poppa Lash, one time during the week day, something, I always enjoyed doing is just showing up, unannounced, these my folks, I can do that, ...this day, was interesting for real, Poppa Lash, had these huge frog legs frying in a black skillet, and the legs were jumping around like they had, life, Poppa Lash, said, ″

″that’s the nerves in the leg quarters that make them do that,...they won’t be jumping much longer, once they hit my belly ″ ,...he was making a joke, I’m looking like I missed the joke, cause I’m looking at these frog legs quivering in hot grease, , those were the times too remember of my Poppa Lash,...what an honor it was knowing, this Great Man,...and Poppa Lash, if you reading this and listening ,too My Heart″, I Love You.

″I Remember″

I always had memories I love too share with ″Poppa Lash″ he drove a Waste Truck for Reynolds he had four son’s and three of them drove Trucks as well, Trucker’s, I’ve worked with were, “Men of Valor″...... simply, Ordinary Men, doing Extraordinary things.....I never thought about the issues they dealt with just to make on-time arrivals, the last thing they need too deal with is, Shipping and Receiving personnel, lacking, and not communicating last minute instructions.....they wanna get in and out soon as possible, and onto the next drop.......I, felt bad for the Trucker’s dealing with, I-85, south, through the mountains during the inclement weather, runs......uphill and downhill,....having too use, sand traps for over heated brakes, steep declines, monsterous inclines, ...one story, I’ll never forget from one of our, Contractor’s, Ashland Chemicals, who, delivered our Acetic Acid, we used in Dyeing and Bleaching, and Finishing,.....the driver, was very nice gentleman, I always gave him plenty of clean up cloths, too take with him, we always had time for conversation, and I always allowed him too use company air, too unload his Tank’s, it was faster and easier, those tanker trucks air pumps, were, slow...as molasses, ..My manager, informed me too let Trucker’s use their own air....phuck, that.....I allowed my, friend too use the company air,....anyway, the story, was he told me one time, when he was coming too this plant, through Galax, it’s was snowing bad, he was coming down the steep mountain, at a crawl, things were going well, then all of a sudden he looked out the drivers side window, and the tank was right at the drivers, side...door, scared him, too death, he was able too maneuver the rig, too correct the shift.......I told him, I was so, glad God, stepped in.....I, had good rapport with all the drivers, we understood each other positions, we never, clashed about late deliveries, all, I ask is too just inform me, I’ll work it out, ..and I, always did..........Be Safe....

″Whitaker Park″

Another Conversation with Poppa Lash, I shared with him, about when, I was .....working part time for Zaboo Food Services, contracted inside the R.J.Reynolds, Whitaker Park Facility, it’s huge dinning hall, I had already visited the plant area, few years ago, where guides, take you on a tour through the manufacturing departments, oh, yeah, I saw the most talked about on the streets, area, known as the packaging area, also, known as, ″Hanging Trays″, department, ...this is brutal looking, you constantly hanging cases filled with cigarettes, on this carousel type of spinning machine, non-stop, and word on the street was this was the entry level, job, and if you can make it in here, you can make it anywhere in Reynolds. This is boot camp, in my eyes, only a group of ten of us, we all whispering, and amazed we also, toured the the loading dock area, and this was ″poetry in motion″ how synchronized these forklift operators, moving at high speed going in and out of trailers, barely missing one another, I was fascinated it’s probably 30 trailers being loaded, and the driver’s of the trucks, were parking and docking with so much precision, even the tractor trailer mirrors, were in a straight line, perfectly probably, eight inches apart, I, had a couple friends that drove for Reynolds, trying too see if I could spot one of them so, now the tour, has come too a close, and the guides, gave each person a carton of Salem’s or Winston’s. The rumor has always been the only way too get a job in Reynolds, you must have family already employed, and it was probably a ″Myth″, however, I applied many times too no avail, but I did get a job, with, Zaboo through a friend, and I thought this would get me hired, in the Plant, but it didn’t, I tried, and I continued too work for Zaboo, washing these big ass, huge pots and pans and trays, these folks in Reynolds eat damn good, for very little cost, all day, morning and lunch. The K&W franchise , aint got ″$#!+″ on Reynolds, these employees have the best of Both Worlds Great Benefits and Great Pay and Great Meals, however, Reynolds the most talked about Company all over the World, and many of it’s employees, had this arrogance about themselves, they knew they were under the strongest umbrella money can buy, there own Healthcare Facility, and their Own Credit Union, and Businesses and especially, Car Lot Salesman, first question after greeting you,

″Do you work for Reynolds″

you say no, they get this smurk expression, like

″oh, really″

well, feel free too look around, I’ll be back in the building if you, need me.

Thinking too myself, ″You Bastard″

I spent a lot of time in Walnut Cove, I married a Native from here, I even joined the Church Basketball Team......and we came face too face with the best of the Town:

″Kings Mountain″

Walnut Cove Recreation Basketball League.

I find it hard too believe, I’m still ″Haunted″, by the images of losing too one team three times, in one season, especially knowing we were good enough too beat these guys, and in my heart we gave so, much as a team and yet we still didn’t ″cash in″, in three opportunities .....each time was a barn burner, and each time, we couldn’t close it out, everybody played their position and everybody gave their very best, that’s how bad we wanted too beat these guy’s, both teams were the best in the league, that’s how we ended up playing each other for the Championship, our only loss was too them during the season, they were equally balanced on both ends of the floor, and they had bench players that were just as good as the starters, and I’m not making excuses, ..this was 32 years ago, and I’m still haunted, from the defeat.....″Lord, don’t move my mountain, just give me the strength too climb″