Peter metal worker

Thirty five years working in a factory
moulding metal for his wage.
He began as a young man in 1960 he wasn´t a curious man
or even very philosophical but he loved his family and wife
and humility often cradled him through whatever crisis hit his small world.
Metal dust and sharp leftovers coat his boots like icing
When he became a worker it was a noble job,
minerals that Brazil could turn into something hard and useful.
Drilling and cutting and fusing and melting all day,
sweat doesn´t leave the brow in summer.
The spread salt turn scent of metal forever in the nose.
Co-workers joke and sprinkle colour on the dry days
that active boredom pushes along.
The early morning lightens after coffee smiles and lights turn on.
The innocent amble of workers from one station to the next,
the humm and buzz of machines, humble men make their way back to their wives
at the end of the day just as thankful as they were on their fifth birthdays.

As the machines sung that hot afternoon in february 1991 Peter the metal worker
decided that soon he would open a bar. A small buisiness that would keep his family
on an even keel for the last quarter of his peaceful life.
The drill came down and burrowed into his project as he thought about his idea.
Calmness flowed on and he thanked god for his life and career.
Dozens of his work friends told him it was a cool idea and that they would personally show up
for the inauguration.
The days of february didn´t get any cooler infact the days temperature would hover around 35c
and at night wouldn´t even touch 20c. The factories where he worked would heat up even more
and most workers would have to take a rest and a shower before returning to work.
At first the managers tried to distract the workers off the idea, Peter was one of the workers that
did speak up. He said if they didn´t have the opportunity to rest and wash their health would be affected.
The managers took notice and started to observe the new rule, giving the workers alittle more time during
the lunch break to wash and rest.

Some of his best friends really suffered in the companíes they were working in other neighbouring towns
half of them ended up in hospital with heat exhaustion and other related ills.
Peter would visit them in the weekend and thought about how hard his job was at the time.
His dream of opening a bar started to take up more space in his mind.
By 1992 he had saved enough money to invest in a small local bar.
The problem was that he wanted something closer to a neighbourhood where he´d get enough customers
to make it worth his while. It was three more years of hard work on the factory floor before he had enough money to get his bar in the neighbourhood he wanted, which was also not even a rich neighbourhood
but was good enough to make a decent dollar.
1995 Peter bought his bar and all of his friends turned up just as they had said they would.
His wife gave birth the same year and a warmth came over his family that seemed to be unshakable.
One cold night in the middle of june when Peter and his family had gone to the beach, criminals broke into his house and stole everything that had any value. Totally cleaning him out. T.v, video player radio stereo microwave jewelry all gone.
Peter´s wife and parents were distraught and Peter spent the next few months trying to convince them that it was not so bad, even though there was no insurance for what they had lost.

It was september 95 and spring had come, Peter´s bar was making good money but he still hadn´t
bought back everything the thieves had stolen. He got a phonecall from the local supermarket that month though,
just to tell him he had won a car in a raffle, at first he thought it was some kind of scam.
Sure enough that day the manager from the supermarket made a visit to his house bringing the car there himself.
Peter thought to himself it would have to have been by his own extra work and saving that the family would fully recover from the burglary. He was wrong it was by the luck of his wife, it had also been specifically because of the burglary that she had put her name, phone number and receipt into the draw.
Peter´s family already had a car it was an old chevrolet monza he had bought in 1990, so he spoke to his wife and they decided to sell the new car they had won.
With the money they managed to buy back all the appliances that were stolen, refurbish the bar and paint the entire family house. Peter was a simple man but had never lost faith in everything turning out for the best. From the beginning Peter had been positive and humble, it was like god had thanked him directly.
Even though most would say these are small dreams, for this family they were a miracle. Peter himself felt blessed everyday even in the middle of the crisis the robbery caused within his family.
He never blamed anyone and his connection with his friends and god was never broken.