A Snake and a Worm

Well... before I begin this story I need to give some background. From 1986 to 1996 I worked at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, a period of time that brings many memories to mind. In those early days the company provided a couple of 15-passenger vans that went from Bishop up to the resort, a distance of about 47 miles. This “carpool” became an interesting part of our day, filled with many characters and even more ridiculous experiences.

For some reason during this period many nicknames were handed out. Names such as Eric Bocanegra became simply “Broken Eggroll” and Don Brickell became “the Brick”. I know this may surprise you but my nickname was “Workin’ Perkins”, presumably for the number of long days I worked without taking time off. (Heck I was younger those days and had a young and growing family, OT was always welcomed.) Anyway, on the van was a guy named Joe Parsley, who became known as “Snake”. Snake often talked about his son Clint and it didn’t take long for us to start referring to Clint as “The Worm”.

Now that is all set up, here is the important story. Clint was Charlotte’s age and went to the same school. When Charlotte was in 4th grade there was a particular boy who picked on her. You know, took her books, kicked her, hit her in the lunch line, etc. I did all I could to contact the school and complain but there was never any resolution. It went on for many weeks.

One day while talking to the Snake I asked him if would have the Worm talk to this one boy, explaining that he was Charlotte’s friend and she shouldn't be picked on…..and that no girls should be hit for that matter. Snake went home to ask the Worm to step in.

The next day the Snake sat next to me on the van. I said, “So, how did it go?” The Snake said that the Worm had agreed to take care of the problem but that Snake was to deliver a message to me. I looked at Snake quizzically. “The Worm told me he’d take care of it but if he had to throw a punch it was gonna to cost Perkins 10 bucks”.

Problem resolved. 10 bucks was never paid to the Worm.