I can’t remember a thing.
Seriously.
As I have aged, it seems that my memory is slipping more and more—rapidly. Almost as if my mental faculties are getting temp work in another mind. See, I have a calendar book where I write notes for things. For example, I write in it the section days for the college course I teach, along with holidays and ‘no class’ days because I find it easier to keep track of them if I can see them laid out on paper. Additionally, I draw a box to mark an ‘X’ in for my Minion Monday posts to help me keep track of when to take pictures and get them scheduled for posting. And, the one I rely on most is my Wednesday story titles. With these, I also draw a box to mark an ‘X’ in, along with the projected titles and basic story idea bullet points. This helps me stay on top of what I want to write and for what time of year to post it.
What does all this have to do with anything, you may ask? Well, this week. It has to do with this week. See, I had a plan to write a story about a laser pointer, the zoo, and some African wild cats. However, the closer this week came, the more I didn’t want to write it. It just felt like the wrong time. Then, almost every day last week, I kept getting great ideas for replacement stories—which I would promptly forget. Usually, I have paper and a writing utensil on hand because I got tired of “I’ll remember this great idea. It’s so good, I don’t need to write it down.” situations occurring because they all ended the same: I got home and forgot everything about the idea. Every. Single. Time. Every time.
This last week was a serious relapse into that terrible, arrogant mindset. Even on Monday, the day I wrote this post, I had it happen. I was in my kitchen, and a new and better idea popped into my head. A funny military story. By the time I got to my studio—just down the hall—and sat down to write, the story was gone. I tried a few memory-recall tricks that all resulted in zilch.
Poo…
So, I went to my story list. It is just as it sounds. It is a list of story ideas that I mark off after I use each one. I found several that I had forgotten I wanted to write about (which is exactly why I have said list). In that list, I found an idea that just grabbed my attention: “White-collar” & “Blue-collar” & “Red-collar” work.
Most of you are probably aware that ‘White Collar’ work has to do with those individuals who work in offices. Desk jobs. Clerical. Administration. Suits and ties. That sort of thing.
‘Blue Collar’ work is a label for those who get their hands dirty. Diggers. Construction. Manual Labor. Those who are sometimes looked down upon by the white-collar folk. I have been in both categories and am currently in the former. At my age, it suits my physical requirements (limitations) better. Plus, I really like what I do. That said, I have the utmost admiration for the Blue Collars. They keep things functioning. They are very often some of the most down-to-earth people I have ever met. I am grateful that they help to make my life easier. All that said, it’s the third category that I would like to talk about. The ‘Red Collar’ group.
It was another typical weekend playing Call of Duty with Erich: We were just talking and letting nonsense conversations move about, as well as catching up on family events—we do have serious conversations—when we got around to the blue-collar versus white-collar work fields. For reasons that I cannot recall (at all, as it was years ago. refer back to the first sentence in this story), in this conversation collection we started categorizing employment opportunities. For example, my job as a teacher: White Collar. Erich’s job at the Post Office: Blue Collar. Which is odd because he has a desk job at the Post Office, but, he is almost never at it. I think that is why we decided it was more blue-collar than white. That lead us to joke about a ‘Skyblue Collar’ job. That would be a job that is somewhere in between the blue and white-collar trades.
Based upon what I know of myself (I’m an odd sorta duck), and what you’ve probably deduced from any posts you may have already read (thank you), I am pretty sure I came up with the next question: “So what category would a mafia hitman fit into?” Seriously, what would that be? Just think about it. Is he considered a professional? Is he more of a ‘hands-on’ sorta guy? Blue or white?
“Maybe it’s a whole, new separate category?” Erich offered.
“What color would represent a hitman’s profession?” I was both excited and perplexed.
“Red?”
“Yeah… Red.”
There we were, two friends in two states, blowing the crud out of zombies and issuing administrative orders for employment categories. You know, for situations such as resume writing and Workers’ Compensation. You know, situations that would occur in the real world if you truly were a ‘Red Collar’ worker. So, like, the driver of the car: Blue Collar. The Boss: White Collar. The muscle: Red Collar.
And, since socially, the white collars are considered to be ‘above’ the blue collars, we had to answer where the red collars would be set in the societal order of things. If I recollect correctly (and I possibly don’t), I think it went: White, then Blue, then Red. This meant that the blue-collar boys had someone to look down upon. But, that could be dangerous, because Red Collars beat people up and broke legs and stuff for a living… They are not afraid to get rough. Do you really want to sneer down at someone like that? Sure, they look like a White Collar, and they work like a Blue Collar, but they do things that most people don’t want to ever do.
“So then, does that mean that the military would be considered ‘Green Collars’?” I had to ask.
Almost Heroes 