Working it Out

I was a teenager living in what I thought was an adult world. Most of the men I worked on the assembly line with seemed to have a strange transition come over them the minute they entered the factory. These were men in their thirties, forties, and fifties, and yet they became childlike on the assembly line. I was married, had a wife and baby daughter, owned my home, and had bought a new car. As far as the men I worked with,I was a teenager; not yet grown up, and their sole daily purpose was to make my working life a living Hell. And my work partner, Dennis, was the ring leader!
Dennis was supposed to be very religious, but you couldn't prove it to me. He was in his late twenties with a very muscular build, and could act goofy as a cookoo clock! Dennis and a couple other guys seemed to delight in tormenting me. I was usually very tired and sore. My Father-in-law would keep me out working on furnaces in the evenings and when he'd quit for the night, he'd head for the nearest bar and drink beers until closing. I wasn't old enough to drink beer so I'd sip on a cola. Often, we wouldn't get home until 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. in the morning and I had to be on the assembly line by 6:30 a.m.
My body ached from flopping over the seats while looking under them and bolting them to the car floor. My partner, Dennis, would run off when we managed to work up the line, and he'd return as the air hoses stretched to the max that ran our air tools. Or, he'd sneak around to my side and take me by surprise, grabbing my leg and growling like a dog biting. I'd jump and more often then not I'd bang my head on the dashes mounting brackets. Then Dennis would do his crazy laugh as he pranced and hopped back to his side of the car. I quickly learned to hate this torment while trying to do my job.
My Dad became very upset with me when I spent most of my spare time working for my wife's Dad when my own Father needed me on the farm and had to hire the neighbor boys. I did manage to help him on occassion, but my wife's Dad was very persistant. My parents resented me for my actions and as soon as my younger brother was old enough, they handed the management of the farm over to him.