"Oh Harry"

Many years ago I listened to a motivational tape called, "Oh Harry."  It was about a guy who became successful and got even with his brother-in-law who had been giving him a hard time about what he was doing.  I don't have that problem in my life, but I do have a Harry in my life.

I told you about Harry who works with me.  He's a little bit older than I am, from Philadelphia, and he's had two, twenty year careers as a fireman and a mail carrier.  He's a real character and I think he'd get along well with the New Yorker I just wrote about.

He enjoys ribbing me about my van.  He couldn't believe that they make smaller ones than I have.  Recently he said, "If you had a grown up vehicle..."  One day he was in rare form and being a Philadelphia sports fan he took it out on Frank(his boss) and me since we're Yankee fans.  "I have to put with all these Yankee fans, wearing their Yankee hats and shirts and Yankee underwear."(Just for the record I do not have Yankee underwear)  When I told another driver who  is a Red Sox fan that Harry was complaining about us wearing Yankee underwear, he said, "At least you wear underwear."

One morning Harry asked me, "Where are the windmills?"  I wanted to say the Netherlands, but he explained and told me that I'm always waving my arms around.  Before I start carrying a lot of boxes I do loosen up my arms and stretch a little especially if we're waiting for the truck to arrive.  But to Harry, I'm doing "windmills."

Many times Harry has said things to me like, "when you become the boss here," or "when you take over."  This week he said to me, "I don't know what I'm going to do when you leave."  I didn't ask him when I'm leaving or where I'm going, but no wonder I'm confused sometimes whether I'm coming or going-to Harry, I'm doing both.

Just this week Harry put his arm around me and told me what a great job I was doing.  He has actually been saying a number of nice things to me the past couple months and I was starting to think maybe I was growing on him a bit.  The last thing he said to me Friday was, "I just want to see you get in your car and leave."  He was kidding, I think.  I told him that would be the last line of my latest blog, I lied.