DAV I D
David did not exist. The only way to resurrect David is via a mosaic of different parts put together like a jig-saw puzzle and as such each part will become unique to David.And represent the personality of David. David had schooling up to std. 2 and was totally arithmetically incapable of understanding the very basics of arithmetic. He was asked to give the value of X in the following examples: 2 + X = 7. And X + 2 = 9.
He attended ABET classes but to no avail. When faced with Arithmetic he would break down and sob like a snorting bull and had to be taken outside and calmed down. His wife worked for a national security company and there were three small children. The most prominent aspect of david’s personality was his gluttony. Ice-cream is usually packed in two litre plastic containers. These containers were almost universally used for lunch boxes. David had three containers filled with rice, potatoes, meat and mixed veggies. The second container was filled to the brim with chicken pieces and the third with mealie meal for breakfast.
This totalled 6 litres of food which was gobbled down before lunch time. After lunch he would walk around head hanging and waiting for the rest of the workshop personnel to finish their meals so that he could get the left-over’s. His gluttony reached maniacal proportions. Every month he would buy 3 huge bags of chicken pieces. A huge bag of rice and potatoes and packets of beef gravy.
What he brought into the home was his and not available to the others. That was until his wife, seeing that the food stock were at a low level, she borrowed some chicken and veggies from David’s ample stock. David came home to see his children eating chicken pieces and beat and assaulted his wife. The wife ’phoned the cops and David was arrested on charges of domestic violence and locked up for the night - without supper. He was released 2 days later with a warning.
I received a job-card indicating that I had to arrange for the main sub-station to be painted; This means walls and floors too and any other sections of the sub-station that may require painting. The task was commenced on a Friday and completed about 50%. David requested that we complete the job on the coming Sunday and hence he could score Sunday overtime. And so it was arranged. In the mean time the floor was painted on both sides of the aisle with a large area ahead still to be painted.
On Sunday morning David continued on the sub-station floor and was told not to advance the painting beyond a certain point. Some hours later I returned to the sub-station to check the progress. Much to my surprise a large section had been painted and looked real good. David was missing. Then I heard my name being called but unable to trace the source of the voice. Eventually I traced David in a corner behind an electrical panel;. David had painted himself into a corner.
While busy on an outside job David was instructed to fetch a toolbox. The distance to the shop was about 400 metres. An hour later David had still not arrived so I went to look for him and found him nattering with another worker. At the time David did not realise that he had been gone for more than an hour. This was a regular occurrence but we had no way of bypassing it. David had a temporal brain problem and nothing could be done about it. After a safety campaign had been assessed my team won first place. We received vouchers to have a huge lunch at one of the popular steak houses. David ordered 4 lamb necks and 3 bottles of wine. for himself. Other promised to never again eat with him.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.