The Former Miner Returns from His First Day as a Service Worker (at a McDonald's somewhere in Appalachia)

by Mark Defoe




All day he crushed the spongy buns, pawed at
The lids of burger boxes and kiddie pacs
As if they were chinese puzzles.

All day long his hands ticked, ready to latch on
Or heave or curl around a tool
Heavier than a spatula,

All day he rubbed his eyes in the crisp light.
All day the blue tile, the polished chrome, said
Be nimble, be jolly, be quick.

All day he grinned while the public, with bland
Or befuddled faces, scowled over his head
And mumbled, whispered, snarled, and snapped.

All day his coworkers, pink and scrubbed,
Prattled and glided and skipped while he,
All bulk and balk, rumbled and banged.

Near shift's end he daydreamed - of the clang
Of rock on steel, the skreel
Of a conveyer belt, the rattling whine
Of the man-trip, the miner's growl of gears
As if gnarled, toothing at the seam.

He makes his slow way home, shadow among
Roadside shadows, groping back in himself
For that deep, sheltering dark.
He has never been so tired.
His hands have never been so clean.

Should school day be longer?

source: firstnews.co.uk


The school day should be made longer to get children ready for the world of work, say some politicians.

Stephen Twigg, the Labour party’s education boss, says a longer day would keep children off the streets, stop them being sucked into local gangs and give the most deprived pupils a place to study away from difficult home lives.

He also thinks that pupils should be put into groups in schools by ability or interests, rather than age.

The MP’s comments come after a survey by business leaders found that one out of three young people was not ready for a job.
One school in Norwich is already open for six days a week, 51 weeks of the year. Others are planning to keep pupils in school until at least 5pm or stage regular weekend lessons.

Mr Twigg thinks all pupils should have a longer day. “First, for secondary pupils, it would mean getting used to a work-like timetable,” he says. “How many employers expect their workers to leave the office at 3.30pm?

“Second, too many pupils who suffer from poor housing conditions struggle to find a quiet place to study or do their homework. Providing a longer school day will give these students a haven away from what, in some cases, can be chaotic and troublesome home lives. Third, it can take young people, quite literally, off the streets.”

Mr Twigg says studies have shown that gangs are most active immediately after schools close, and providing longer school-based activities may stop some young people getting into trouble.

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vocabulary:

sucked into- to become involved in a situation, especially a bad situation, when you do not want to.

deprived- not having the things that are necessary for a comfortable or happy life

haven-a place where people or animals can live peacefully or go to in order to be safe