China Dirt

My hump day started with a little Hanson Christmas sing-a-long on my drive to work where I was swiftly greeted by a tractor trailer driver dropping off a shipping container full of packaging. A little over a month ago we received our first container from this order filled with pretty macaron and chocolate boxes. It took over half a dozen of us working outside on a sunny day to unload and organize everything but we got it done. Unfortunately, I had not given much thought to the amount of manual labor this task would require and thus dressed inappropriately for the day: jeans, t-shirt and Danskos. Learning from the first large shipment of the season, I went for comfy clothes this go-round: gym pants, t-shirt, tennis shoes. Much better. Regardless of what one wears to unload these monstrosities, touching that much cardboard that was packed in a huge metal box, shipped across the Pacific Ocean, then transported via rail three quarters of the way across the country guarantees that you'll be covered in filth by the end of the day. I affectionately refer to this filth as "China dirt". Hands, arms, face, clothes, shoes, everything is covered in China dirt by the time you make it to the back of the container. Delivery days don't happen often, about two to three times a year, but when they do they are certainly not glamorous days... not at all!