on Sub-Assembly Line 3-A
because, through a laughable oversight, there is no one to put in a
wrist-pin? How do you explain it so he will _understand_, Mr. Stump?"

Rogers stopped and caught his breath. His face began growing red. He
said slowly, "You _don't_, Mr. Stump. You don't explain it so he will
understand. I just tried!"

Ernie swallowed. Hurriedly, he said, "Look I'm sorry. I'll get right
in there--"

Rogers smiled. "That would be nice, Mr. Stump. I imagine there are
quite a few Sub-Assembly 3-A's stacked up in there by now. You just
trot in there and get them cleaned up."

Ernie nodded doubtfully. "You ain't mad?"

Rogers' smile grew broader. "Mad, Mr. Stump? Why, being chewed out by
the manager is a trifle. It's something a foreman must expect. It
happens to some of them every day--for a while. And when it does, it
doesn't matter because in just a little while they are no longer
foremen. Sometimes, they aren't even workmen, any more. And then they
have nothing at all to worry about, so don't let it concern you, Mr.
Stump. Do you take the streetcar to work?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I do."

"I thought so." Rogers nodded his head benignly. "Well, just as a
suggestion, the next time you see you're going to be late it might be
better if you saved your car-fare and used it to buy a newspaper."

Ernie smiled uncertainly. "O.K. Uh, why?"

"Because," Rogers said slowly, no longer smiling, "the next time you
leave me in a crack like that, you're going to be reading the 'Help
Wanted' section! _Now get in there and get to work!_"

Ernie did.

He worked the rest of the morning in a sullen mood. For one thing,
with the extra time that Rogers had taken up, Sub-Assembly Line 3-A
was a mess. Incomplete sub-assemblies were stacked on the floor all
around Ernie's spot on the line. He would have to pin them and slip
them into the production line as best he could.

Next to him on the line, Broncewicz said: "Ernie, we'll never get this
job out. Where were you?"

And Ernie told him about the beef with Rogers. He worked as he talked,
but the more he talked the angrier he got. Rogers had been unfair. He
asked Broncewicz, "How can anybody do a good job with that guy all the
time riding 'em?"

Broncewicz nodded. "You should take it to the union."

Ernie snorted. "That's a hot one. Rogers used to be our shop steward."

"Yeah, I forgot." Broncewicz scratched at a hairy ear. "Anyway, you
should tell him off."

"Yeah, I sho