A Matter of Application

The economic world surrounding these days is in a state of chaos with stock brokers in all companies looking at each other and saying, with questioning looks,"Whats going on?"but I recall a day in my young life that I asked myself that same question. The war was one of the things that was going on and it was of monumental importance. I was only 18 at that time and had secured a position as a time keeper in a war production plant. It was a converted Chevy plant that was now making airplane engines. I had been hired for a 4:00 to midnight shift and had the responsibility of walking the floor with my clipboard and verifying that all the men I checked on had printed out their time cards and were, indeed, working. No one was to print out some one else's time card to indicate they were there when they weren't. I was the keeper of the gate and a position of power was mine. Somehow the word got back to the manager of the time crew that I was all finished with my work by 8:00 P.M.--only a half of my shift. How could this be? Did I actually do my job of verifying every one's presence? "Yes I did", say I with emphasis. So for my diligence, I was moved from 4:00 to 8:00 and could now follow the process to do the 2nd shift and the 3rd shift by working from 8:00 until 4:00 A.M. doubling my efforts now to accomplish greater efficiency. I was a hotdog and was recognized for the speed with which I accomplished this feat. My walk around the very large plant was to identify each man at his post and this is where a matter of application entered the picture. Practically every man working there was Polish with names of multiple syllables. i.e. Wasikowski 846927 was at his machine. There was Bunteshefski 845466 and Oh yes, I could see Bilitnikoski 844271 and so it went . I no longer had to go up to the individuals and ask them their name and their number to make sure they were on my records and therefore were working. I was learning the hundred or so men on the two shifts by merely working down the center of the plant and spot the workers as I walked. Some of the men didn't trust my eyesight or my knowledge and would leave their machine and come running after me and say "Did you get me?" "Yes, you are Eddy Paderschefski 847912". This would bring a look of consternation to his face and he would go back to his machine. And so it went with me committing to memory all these men with their difficult names let alone their numbers. Many times when I would be walking down the street I would see a man and say to Louise, "Oh there's Bill Kazanofski 845622," and she would look at me as though I was nuts. Getting back to the confusion in our economic world and the questions on who do we bail out by giving them government money, there are a lot of arguments concerning the big three- --the auto industries. I heard Michael Savage one night and he made a profound statement of vast importance. He said, "These car industries were of tremendous value when our war with Japan took place. They were the businesses that were able to, almost immediately, go into a war time mode and gear up for the huge production of war time equipment that allowed us to become the major nation that we were intended to be". The sleeping giant had, indeed, wakened! That is a major factor in what may lie ahead of us. Will we be involved in another major conflict? Quite possibly!! Where will our facilities be when we need them? Gone: Because we didn't assist them in our economic problems? It is a dilemma that can't be under estimated. I hope that our men in power will think of that in their various machinations. What does that have to do with my memorizing all those Polish names? Probably nothing except it made me realize that I was no longer in high school, just sliding by, I was now in a position where I had to think and it became a matter of application. I hope all these men chosen to lead our country out from this chaos are applying their thought processes as well.