quarters. Straight ahead through the lobby is a hallway that ends in a T junction. There is a washroom before me, a study on the right and the master bedroom on the left. The master bedroom has its own park view and private bath. The place is enormous! I have to wash the windows besides cleaning everything that isnât painted. Brumbough leaves me after a thousand injunctions not to break anything and a little speech about how this is really a tryout for a regular job. I know I wouldnât ever want to come back again as I set about to wash the windows. Most of the morning hours are taken up by this pursuit. I am consoled somewhat by the fact that I had raised my rate on him to $3.75/hour and at the same moment terribly saddened that I hadnât said $4.
Sanford comes to work in the early afternoon. He hasa lot of little jobs to do and some touch-up work. Sanford has the gossip! Brumbough and his wife have been separated and now Brumbough has this new apartment and is fixing it up for her return. Sanford and I launch into our work. We each have a radio. He listens to FM rock and I listen to AM country. Our paths cross and recross; working with similar levels of enthusiasm and skill, we inspire each other to become silly. We discuss the Herr from head to toe and agree on how disagreeable he is. Brumbough is out and we are in. We canât understand why the Herr had his study painted dark brown. It is already a dark room but painted brown creates the atmosphere inside a chocolate cake. The Herrâs father comes by and hangs around. The father is very sweet and speaks German with Sanford. The Herrâs father starts putting the Herr down. We all express our feelings about the stupid brown paint. Sanford and I work through the afternoon, then I duck out for some sandwiches. I go down the back elevator and through the service entrance. The basement is huge and clean. There is a locker room for the employees and various corridors that twist and curve, finally leading to a secret staircase and through an ironwork gate; there is the street.
Sanford is a beautiful worker. He is careful about each drop of paint. He reconditions every surface before he paints it and seems to have a myriad of skills unknown to me. He works slowly and patiently. His head, like my head, is above his work. As we work on together, we find it possible to completely communicate and have a good time and still work on our different projects. Sanford is exhausted from working every day for threeweeks inside this vacuous apartment and I am dizzy from working since 7:00 AM . Sanford and I stumble around in heavy professional manners and continue into the night. The Herr returns and works hard to get in both of our ways or to get one of us in the otherâs way. Brumbough gives out conflicting orders, which slow down the pace of the work. The Herr complains about how slow we are. I finally finish up at 9:00 PM . I am faint and robot-like as I change a light bulb in the ceiling before I go. I receive a $45 check and more baloney about how he will see if his wife likes my work, etc. He tells me to call him for their decision. I tell the Herr if he wants me, he can call me.
Leaving Sanford to work alone in the doomed apartment is one of the toughest tasks Iâve ever had to perform. It is plain cruelty that Sanford must labor on with the hideous Herr. Sanford looks at me as one who is standing on the deck of a sinking ship, watching the last lifeboat heave away. We shake hands and agree, âWork is hell!â Physical brothers, weâll meet again in the next world. The joy I feel at my release onto Fifth Avenue buoys me up above the street and Central Park, into the cloudy subway. I wonder how to find my way home again.
CHAPTER 7
The Kitchen
Much has been written about cooking and eating. The kitchen takes care of the bodyâs inside. Here we are actively working on sustaining our existence. Cooking is substantive whereas cleaning is
Sanford comes to work in the early afternoon. He hasa lot of little jobs to do and some touch-up work. Sanford has the gossip! Brumbough and his wife have been separated and now Brumbough has this new apartment and is fixing it up for her return. Sanford and I launch into our work. We each have a radio. He listens to FM rock and I listen to AM country. Our paths cross and recross; working with similar levels of enthusiasm and skill, we inspire each other to become silly. We discuss the Herr from head to toe and agree on how disagreeable he is. Brumbough is out and we are in. We canât understand why the Herr had his study painted dark brown. It is already a dark room but painted brown creates the atmosphere inside a chocolate cake. The Herrâs father comes by and hangs around. The father is very sweet and speaks German with Sanford. The Herrâs father starts putting the Herr down. We all express our feelings about the stupid brown paint. Sanford and I work through the afternoon, then I duck out for some sandwiches. I go down the back elevator and through the service entrance. The basement is huge and clean. There is a locker room for the employees and various corridors that twist and curve, finally leading to a secret staircase and through an ironwork gate; there is the street.
Sanford is a beautiful worker. He is careful about each drop of paint. He reconditions every surface before he paints it and seems to have a myriad of skills unknown to me. He works slowly and patiently. His head, like my head, is above his work. As we work on together, we find it possible to completely communicate and have a good time and still work on our different projects. Sanford is exhausted from working every day for threeweeks inside this vacuous apartment and I am dizzy from working since 7:00 AM . Sanford and I stumble around in heavy professional manners and continue into the night. The Herr returns and works hard to get in both of our ways or to get one of us in the otherâs way. Brumbough gives out conflicting orders, which slow down the pace of the work. The Herr complains about how slow we are. I finally finish up at 9:00 PM . I am faint and robot-like as I change a light bulb in the ceiling before I go. I receive a $45 check and more baloney about how he will see if his wife likes my work, etc. He tells me to call him for their decision. I tell the Herr if he wants me, he can call me.
Leaving Sanford to work alone in the doomed apartment is one of the toughest tasks Iâve ever had to perform. It is plain cruelty that Sanford must labor on with the hideous Herr. Sanford looks at me as one who is standing on the deck of a sinking ship, watching the last lifeboat heave away. We shake hands and agree, âWork is hell!â Physical brothers, weâll meet again in the next world. The joy I feel at my release onto Fifth Avenue buoys me up above the street and Central Park, into the cloudy subway. I wonder how to find my way home again.
CHAPTER 7
The Kitchen
Much has been written about cooking and eating. The kitchen takes care of the bodyâs inside. Here we are actively working on sustaining our existence. Cooking is substantive whereas cleaning is
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