Stormy Jerry

Hurricane Florence is predicted to cause massive damage along the Carolinas’ coast and inland also.  I heard the weatherman say the Carolinas has not had that big of a storm in over 30 years.

Over 30 years ago?  That reminds me of an Atlanta Postal clerk named Jerry.  Jerry was hyper full of nervous energy.  He could sort mail most accurately and faster than any other postal clerk in Atlanta.  Managers from miles around would come and watch Jerry in action, he was a marvel; super human.  He never noticed if people watch him or not.

Everybody that is good at one thing has a fault someplace else.  Jerry’s challenged was he was about 90 % unsocial with other human beings.  He had so much hyper energy he had to shout and clap from time to time.  He also hosted three other beings in his body and sometimes they would have a  loud heated argument among themselves, with Jerry serving as all two or three of their mouth pieces. 

Jerry was also a reader of non-fiction scientific books.  He always had a big hardbound book with him, probably checked out of the library, he was also very frugal.

It wasn’t unusual for female clerks that was assigned to work beside him soon realize his abnormity and in tears beg their supervisor to move them to another place.

Jerry worked through his breaks, unaware others took their assigned breaks.  But he did take his lunch break,  He sat alone reading, off to the side away from everybody.  At lunch, sometimes two of his embedded friends would get into a heated argument and a third voice would materialize and start singing in a woman’s voice to drown out the sounds of the two arguing.  I think she thought it was embarrassing.

Jerry did not go on leave often.  Each year he forfeited leave that he accumulated over the legal amount.  But one year he took a vacation.

When his supervisor approved and handed over to us his leave slip (PO Form 3971) we timekeeprs were amused Jerry was actually taking 10 days off…..what would he do?   Stand on a street corner and lean against a lamppost and let his boldest personality whistle at girls passing?  Nah, I doubt it.

One of us timekeepers asked him where he was going on vacation and he said a little town on the South Carolina coast.  He already had a room rented.

Then weeks later came a gigantic storm or hurricane to the Carolina’s coast.  People were advised to leave the coast for their own safety.  We saw Jerry’s leave slip, he was there, in the middle of one of the strongest storms or hurricanes ever.  Blocks of homes and business buildings wiped off the map.   We wondered how Jerry would fare.

A day before Jerry’s leave was up he returned.  He walked into the timekeeper’s office and told us he was back one day early.  We were surprised to see him.  We ask him did he evacuate the storm, too flooded to have any fun?

He looked puzzled, “What storm?”

The storm on the coast of where you were at!

He said he didn’t go out.  He stayed in and read and ate peanut butter the whole time.

Didn’t you see it on the weather reports?

I read, I didn’t turn on TV.

Well, good for you!

He shrugged like he had no idea what we were talking about.

He came home early because he finished his book.