Continued from:
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After his escape from the USDA's pursuit the young man managed to find his station. It was smooth, he got the hang of it quickly, though he had to remember that just because he saw a kosher cow didn't mean the mexican was finished with an un-kosher cut of meat. Once he had lifted the lid too early and just managed to catch a treif piece before it landed in his barrel. It was all going quite smoothly and
POOOOW!
Woowoowoowoowoo
At that moment the lights flashed into a soft yellow. During that half second the young man though he did
something wrong, then maybe it was supposed to happen, then maybe the plant was blowing up! then
Pitch black...
The young man stood there, hands extended, lost in a black maze surrounded by cows and machinery. His mind was either blank because of the enormous amount of thoughts running through, or it was just blank. There was so much shock from what just happened that the young man couldn't tell if he was terrorized or not. The murky black lasted but a few seconds, but with his brain going the speed of light it felt like an eternity. Finally the dim emergency lights switched on.
woooooop!
woooooop!
It was an alarm. Oh G-d. It was a fire. And there was only one way out! They were all going to die horrible deaths like that story from the Great Depression. He opened the door out to the kill floor. There was no fire. Everything had stopped. The workers were standing around bewildered. Across the kill floor he saw some sort of strobe light go off. What was going on? Did the USDA shut us down?
"We're all getting fired!"
He heard someone yell with a Mexican accent. Oh no. Oooh nooo. They were getting raided for hiring illegals. The young man started to get jittery with fear. He couldn't afford to have this place shut down and be stuck in the middle of nowhere. He desperately prayed for his tour guide rabbi to arrive and rescue him. He waited for agents to storm in. None came. A group of men in brown helmets rushed past. In the distance a woman yelled some commands. The emergency lights switched over to an even dimmer version.
What the hell was going on?
Suddenly a huge cheer swept the floor along with a bit of applause, as if the Packers had just scored a touchdown. The young man turned to one of the mexicans who had a huge grin on his face. "Break" was all he said.
Still not knowing exactly how to get out the young man followed the workers in front of him. At times it did get really dark and once the young man found himself flailing around in black before he caught sight of someone's white helmet.
When he finally got into daylight the young man could see all the workers coming out from a different part of the plant across the yard. The scene was right out of one of those prison movies; dozens and dozens of them all filing out into the yard with their uniforms.
The young man sat in the dimly lit rabbi's lounge. Apparently a fuse blew, or three fuses, and it really blew, in a transformer on a telephone pole. They would have to call the city to fix it. It would take an hour. All the other mashgichim congradulated the young man for bringing them such good luck with the extended breaks. They decided to make a minyan for Mincha. There they were, in their boots, helmets, and uniforms, the young man in his bloodied frock, all davening in the dim light. It was quite a scene.
An hour long break
That's nice
-----
"They can't get in!"
"The gate! They Can't get in!"
"What's he talking about?" The young man asked the Israeli next to him. "The gate is electrical. They can't open it for the repair guys." The young man chuckled at the catch 22. "Well," said the young man, "We might as well do some shopping while we wait."
"eeeh no. We can't get out"
"Doesn't the turnstile just swing the other way? Like the subway?"
"You have to swipe your card to get out. We're locked in"
Cheeky
-----
The workers finally managed to do something to the gate an pry it open. The young man was dozing in the lounge when suddenly the lights came . "awwww maaaan." The rest of the day was uneventful. "So how was your first day?" his tour guide asked. "Not as scary as I thought. I think I'll get the hang of this." was the reply.
The young man still had no clue what this place would be throwing at him...
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