And It's So Quiet

Recently when cleaning out the staff office at my job, I came across this book - And It's So Quiet, by Lynne Glasner and Marilyn Thypin. It's part of a "Vocational Readers" series, and tells an exciting story of a teenage boy with rock and roll dreams...

Until one day, his mom started totally harshing his mellow.

Dubious, Rick ponders how he will balance his dynamic rocker lifestyle with an average joe job.

So, Rick gets a job as a janitor, or a "porter," as it is called in this book. After several days of dutiful instruction under the watchful eye of Teddy, Rick is taught complex tasks such as using a duster...

and a mop! Well heck, maybe this is kind of fun!

They also perform other common custodial tasks, like emptying ashtrays. You know, the ones in the middle of an office. Like you have in your office, right? What do you mean I can't smoke at my desk?

They even encounter some bizarre, room-sized machine called a computer and speculate over its possible uses.

Sure, Teddy, keep tellling yourself that. 

After a seven page spread about how to use a floor waxer, Rick begins to thrive at his job, eventually earning the trust of Teddy enough to use this 400 pound vacuum cleaner unsupervised.

They discover some more confounding technology... Machines, who needs 'em!

And then Rick enjoys a ride home. As his band is not mentioned at all in the last half of the book, one can only assume that he has given up his dreams of rockstardom and has settled on being a janitor.

So there you go, kids. Now shut up and get a job.