This piece was originally posted some years ago.
I was puttying raw wood in one room while they were spraying the final coat in the next. For some time, house painting was my only marketable skill. I don’t remember much about the crew I worked with. One time, we were on a break outside, and they were making a bunch of vulgar gay jokes to see if I’d get upset. I did, on behalf of the gay people I knew. The supervisor, a white guy of unkempt appearance, Emmett, was obviously an idiot.
It was the mid-nineties–things were different. There was no Wi-Fi, no DVDs. Cable television was popular, but their schedule was rigid. To watch a movie at your convenience, videotapes were the only option. There was a string of snuff videos–Faces of Death was the most popular. I never saw any of them.
ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings showed a public execution. It was somewhere in South Asia. The video took place in the corner of a sports stadium. There were five men, on their knees, blindfolded, hands tied behind their backs. There was a pow! and the men slumped forward. Just to be sure, someone walked behind them with a pistol and shot them individually–in the back of their heads. Their crime: being suspected gang members.
When I brought it up at lunch the next day, Emmett said, “We’d be a lot better off if we did that over here.” I didn’t last too long on that job. The day started before sunlight. I was getting tired of having dried paint all over my hands and arms while waiting in line at the bank to cash my meager paycheck. They kept me working late on Halloween.
