August 27, 2007
It came from out of nowhere � an ending to the anything but �lazy days of summer.�We had suspected the end was near, what with the cooler air, the unforgiving rain and the increase in ATV sales, but none of us were more sure until the day when we were all gathered, at the same time, behind the building casually smoking our cigarettes. It was as though we were all meeting for the first time or only just getting reacquainted since we suddenly had the time.
�So, ahhh, how�s things going in your life?�
�What�s your wife�s name again?�
�I never knew you had your gallbladder removed!�
All crap that people talk about when there�s nothing else going on�
Normally, during busier times, we would have simply passed each other by with a quick nod �hello� after choking down our heaters. Now, we each give each other a look which signifies the necessity another outdoor meeting. We linger there, near the dumpsters, circling the ground like lurking tigers, waiting eagerly for another unsuspecting customer to pounce on.
It�s not always easy working in the power sports industry.
These quieter days promote more conversation and thus more plans on what we should all do next. We get together and celebrate sales � any sales that occur � and we carry on throughout tumultuous nights without worrying about still being drunk at work the next day.
�Dude, I have two hours to sober up before any customers show anyway.�
And another hour passing shots or throwing darts rolls by�
It�s all very tragic for us commission-based folks. We wander in despair, carefully aim pens with company logos at each other, fumble through the DVDs in order to view another MotoGP and consume more than our fair share of M&Ms from the finance office (whoever thought up putting the damned things in five pound bags pretty much deserves to fall out of a very fast moving vehicle without a helmet).
So here we are and here we shall be, twiddling our thumbs, cooking up schemes, waiting for the next available excuse to leave the randomness that accompanies the sound of crickets on the showroom floor. I�ll be reduced to part-time or merely laid-off, unable to spend money that I don�t have, studying for classes that I wish were never over because I don�t know what to do with myself when it�s done especially in regards to paying off student loans�
Sigh.
These are all things one has time to think about when nothing else significant is going.
So, good-bye, summer. We�ll miss your certain warmth, your ability to expediently heat our Pilot Powers, your capability of carrying customers through our air-conditioned doors, your mark of our busiest and most lucrative days, your short-lived madness�
Yes, we shall miss you, summer, you f�ing bastard.