Next Thing You Know, Hick Will be Blamed for the Downfall of Civilization

Here we go again. It's all Hick's fault...

Of course I am allowed to blame Hick for anything I see fit. That's my privilege. It's a perk that comes with putting up with him for the past 35-and-a-half years. Nobody else gets that privilege. Especially the fire chief over in Sis-Town!

Hick's boss brought a note to show him on Tuesday. It was the day after the inspection of the kitchen at the Senior Center, for which Hick had provided a cover for the four-foot fluorescent light. The note had nothing to do with the kitchen. It passed inspection just fine. 

The note was about the senior apartments. It had been given to the city manager, and the mayor. The mayor gave it to Hick's boss. Let the record show that there was no reason for the fire chief to go into the apartment section of the building. It's not necessary to leave the kitchen. It was not having an inspection.

Among the items in the note was: "I stepped out into the apartment building, and noticed what appeared to be a slight haze. It seemed to be coming from Apartment 2. For the safety of the residents, the apartment manager needs to make sure the residents are not smoking."

Of course Hick took issue with this. 

"So the fire chief was worried about the safety of the residents, but left the building with smoke coming out of an apartment? What kind of fire chief does that, without checking it out himself? What are we supposed to do? Be here 24 hours a day and sit in the hall waiting to see if somebody smokes? They KNOW it's against the rules. I'm tire of this nitpicking. I don't need this job!"

Hick's boss said he didn't, either. And that he was going to talk to the mayor and take care of it. Along with the other issues in the note. Like a bicycle and a plant in the way of making an emergence exit, and trash in the trash room.

Hick says one of the residents parks his bicycle in the entry area, but it's back away from the stairs, and not in front of the door. And that there's a plant, but it's also not in the path to the exit, nor on the stairs. As for the trash, it's supposed to be dumped every day by the lady who cleans. And Hick and Old Buddy sometimes dump it in the morning, if there's trash in it when they arrive.

"What are we supposed to do about the trash? Sit around and listen for when somebody drops a bag in, and take it out right then, and wait for the next one to drop?"

His boss said no, of course not. It's the trash room. That's why the building was made with a trash chute. It's getting taken out regularly, not accumulating.

I told Hick: "This guy is out to get you because he knows that you're onto him for not doing HIS job right!"

"That's probably got something to do with it."

Sounds like somebody has an ax to grind, and he'd better not be leaving the shavings in Hick's apartment building!