Dad worked for 40 years
for the Union Pacific Railroad. Each day
he would line this lunch box with wax paper, make a sandwich, bag up some
potato chips, and a twinkie or a Ding Dong.
On a good day he would make the sandwich of egg salad, or possibly
tuna. On a busy day, when he didn’t have
the time to make a sandwich, it was bologna with mustard on white bread.
He would always go to work
with his lunch bucket in his hand, wearing blue coveralls, and carry a coat,
mittens, and lantern. The mittens were
heavy duty things. I think one pair
probably lasted several years. He always
maintained that with mittens you could move your fingers around and keep them
warm. So he always wore mittens.
That will always be Dad.
This lunch box is the
ultimate image of Dad working on the railroad.
When he retired he wanted to drive over it with his truck and flatten
it. I begged him not to do it. I’m glad he didn’t.
