General Motors Factory Work

In chapter 1, Hamper talks about the first time he ever stepped inside the General Motors Fisher Body plant, where his father worked on the second shift. It was Family Night. The loved ones of the workers could get a firsthand view of what the linemen tolerated on a daily basis. Hamper recalls the scene. "The noise was very close to intolerable. The heat was one complete bastard. Little wonder that the old man's socks always smelled like liverwurst bleached for a week in the desert sun" (Chapter 1 page 1).

Hamper recalls watching his father work and considered the repetition of the job worse than death. Little seven-year-old Ben just knew he would never have to face the same drudgery because he was going to grow up to be an ambulance driver.

Hamper's father, Bernard, slaved in the factory until the man could stand it no more...