The Chronicles of Richard Rayvis

A work of fiction by Josh Allen – Back to Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Of the many things Mr. Rayvis valued in life, his job was number one. Work was his religion. While his personal life was filled with ups and downs, unpredictable behaviors, and few positive common themes, his work persona was impeccable. Mr. Rayvis arrived 45 minutes early to work every day, never called in sick, and worked all the overtime Carter/Creak would allow. He was loyal to the company to a fault and never spoke a complaining word about his job. He was on task at all times, and would often short himself hours if he felt he had wasted time at work.

As a cable television installer, Mr. Rayvis drove a company truck from job site to job site installing people’s cable TV. It was not a hard job, but Mr. Rayvis treated it with the utmost seriousness. He hated the term “cable guy” and came up with his own official title “Television Signal Field Engineer”. He even had some business cards made up with his name and title prominently displayed. Mr. Rayvis realized that people depended on him for one of the most essential things in modern life; cable television, without which the world would be thrown into chaos as people rioted because of the lack of on demand television programming. It was with this in mind that he proudly went about his job every day. There was no telephone pole too high that he would not climb, there was no dog too mean that he would not kick, there was no cable thief he would not report, and there was no way Mr. Rayvis was going to go home for the day if someone’s cable picture was still fuzzy.

Mr. Rayvis was the best cable installer the world had every known and he knew it. His work truck was perfectly organized and clean; his black Carhartt overalls were perfectly faded and had a Skoal ring in just the right spot. He showed up every day with a tall thermos of piping hot, nasty tasting bitter coffee and the will to work till there was no work left to do. Mr. Rayvis was a working superstar.

On to Chapter 4