The Leprechaun's Gold

One of the foremen at the company where I work has the nickname of 'The Leprechaun'. As far as I know he is actually the only current foreman who has a nickname. Even though he's not short, he isn't Irish, and he certainly doesn't wear only suits of green there is a good reason for this nickname. He guards the tools and supplies on his job as jealously as a leprechaun guards his gold. If you've been using a tool it absolutely-no questions-asked goes back into the office trailer at night. If you need some piece of stock, you check every place it might possibly be before he gives you a new piece.

Normally this isn't a problem; you just know things are done a little differently when you are on one of his jobs. However the one area where this is a problem is in regard to the locks and keys for our storage trailers. Currently we have three storage trailers on our job and they all have the same lock. Since I've been working on this job (week after thanksgiving) there have only been three keys to the locks. This maid it so whenever I needed something out of one of the trailers, I would have to hunt down one of the key holders, ask to borrow his key, and then make sure I returned it to him afterward. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when this happens practically every day, it gets old quick. Not to mention whenever the foreman wanted me to do something, I would have to remind him that I didn't have a key and would need to borrow his.

After two months of reminding him that I still didn't have a key, he finally seemed to get the idea. A few weeks ago after reminding him again, he paused for a minute, and then said, 'I might have an extra key in my truck. I'll have to look for it and get it to you.' Even though this did make me perk up my ears, I figured after two months of nothing happening, what were the chances? Apparently better than I thought, as two days later, as I was getting ready to leave for the day he called me over and handed me a key. I had caught the leprechaun and made him show me the pot of gold.

Little did I know just how well his name fit. I got the gold but I also got the price that came along with it. Now that he knows I have a key, I have become the go to guy for anything concerning the trailers, loading or unloading stock, and taking care of the storage truck at the end of the day. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy.