There are some boys down the road that have been helping me haul hay the past couple of years, they're pretty good kids. They work hard and don't goof off too terribly much. They know that I know when they're goofing off. I let 'em get away with it to a point because it's a hard job that's made a lot easier if you're working with your friends.

One of the last times I baled a lot (for me) this past season (600+) I only had one guy lined up to help. He asked me if I wanted him to bring one of his friends with him to help, so of course I told him yes. TH and this other kid (CR) showed up and we loaded about 250 bales (it's not as bad as it sounds, they were catching it off the chute and stacking directly on the wagon I was pulling behind the baler). It was HOT and humid that day so I made sure that they took plenty of breaks. They also got to sit in the shade quite a bit whilst I did emergency tractor repairs (remember the front axle pivot pin?)

After they got the first two wagons loaded, we pulled them up the road to the house and I left them to unload while I went back to the field to drop some on the ground for some folks who were coming to buy it out of the field. I can't hear anything while that Ferguson is running, but I happened to check my cell phone (cell phones go well with bib overalls y'know) and saw that I had a couple of missed calls from TH. I called him back and he says that they had to take off because CR had forgotten his medicine and wasn't feeling well. TH said they'd be back shortly. Ok, no problem, I'm thinking this guy is diabetic and don't think any more about it and go back to baling (I was running out of daylight and the forecast was rain the next day).

Notice about 20 minutes later that I've missed another call, TN again.

Call him back, he says:

"Hey I'm taking CR to meet his dad, he's afraid to drive"

Why I ask, is he afraid to drive?

"He's got a heart condition and he feels light headed"

Now I'm the one having a heart attack about this time (or at least a stroke)

So I asked TH, Why in the hell did you bring a guy with a heart condition to help haul hay? and why did you not bother to inform me of this fact?

"I dunno, he said it didn't bother him" (ah, to be 20 and bullet proof)

TN then informs that he'll be back to unload the wagons and that he was going to go by and get TC's boys to help him.

I went back to baling, but of course I'm more than a little concerned about all this mess. I'm wondering if I'm going to get sued and all kinds of other pleasant thoughts.

I went back to the barn when it got too dark to bale (actually I popped a shear pin and decided it was good time to quit)

TN was at the barn unloading the wagons, first thing I asked was how CR was...

Total unconcern on TH's part... "Oh, his dad took him to the Emergency Room, it's no big deal"

riiiiiiight.....

I very patiently explained to TH, that he should have told me that CR had a medical condition BEFORE he got sick and that he should be a little more concerned because CR could have DIED (it was HOT that day).

That didn't even begin to sink in.

DUMBASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went into R. Lee Ermey mode. THAT got his attention. I ranted, raved, screamed and threatened him with bodily harm, but he got the idea that NOT telling me little details was a BAD thing.

When we finished baling the next day, he said that CR had called and was fine. Not only was he fine, his parents were glad it had happened, because they found out he needed a medication change or something that they otherwise wouldn't have know about until something really bad happened.

Whew! CR's ok, no pissed off parents, no lawsuit and I can still sleep at night.

So, that mess turned out ok, but not without scaring me half to death, of course I HAVE wondered since then, if the whole thing was a prank on TH's part... he's got a twisted little mind.

And everybody wonders why I spend so much time and energy trying to mechanize my bale handling...