Ski

Another person I have met while having breakfast at McDonald's is Ski. He is a large rotund man with a Stalin mustache, it looks like a cookie duster. He has retired from his job as a prison guard at Raiford State Prison. While working, he drove 62 miles each way every day to get to work. I have been able to get only a few comments from him about that job because he is also a joke teller. He arrives later than I do and once he gets in he starts to tell jokes. Often, a conversation in which I am interested is interrupted by his desire to amuse us. He has worked nights as a bartender at the VFW hall here in town. I cannot determine whether he still works there or not. As a bartender he discovered that if you entertain people they give larger tips. His repertoire is extensive and many of his stories are old, never the less, he tells them with relish and good humor and he usually gets hearty laughs. When telling off color jokes he will look side to side, then behind him, to insure he will not offend someone within earshot. While we are laughing at a joke, I can tell that he taking that time to come up with another joke. I am usually the first one to leave because I teach at 10:00. Often I am irritated as I leave because our conversation was interrupted or we did not discuss some of the things that interest me and some of the others. I now look upon him as a bore and am distressed when he comes in to join us. I have tried to get him to participate in some serious discussions but he looks upon himself as our entertainer and intends to play the role completely. I would like to know what the ex-prison guard thinks about things and am not at all interested in the jokester' thoughts. All this is ironic because when I was younger I very much was a willing listener when somebody wanted to entertain. I even judged my teachers on their sense of humor and not on the knowledge I would obtain from them. Many a time I remembered the jokes the teacher told and not the substance of the class lessons. (However, unhappily, the jokes were never on the test.) Ski is not a well man. Over weight, diabetic, trouble breathing, bloodshot eyes, and varicose veins all militate against his being around for a long time. Even now, some days he does not make it in the morning and I do not concern myself because he is missing. I do enjoy the conversations when he is not there.