Dick, Nick and the Pickled Eggs
I was a Locomotive Engineer with CSX for 28 years, with a home terminal in Russell, Ky. About 10 years ago I was working a yard job at a location called the Big 4 in Russell, Ky. Dick Adkins was my switchman and Nick Ferenz was our Yardmaster.(responsible for sending our switch lists via printer) Nick was stationed upstairs in our central building. There were several other crews also stationed at the Big 4.
We had been having a huge problem with someone raiding the fridge and swiping food from our lunch boxes. Nobody knew who was responsible. One night Dick met me in the parking lot and told me that he had doctored up his jar of pickled eggs with a strong laxative. He was intent on finding out who was stealing his lunch every night. It so happened that this particular night was a slow night and we were not out working much early. Around 3:30 am we hit the lead to start switching. When we finished about 6:15 am Dick went inside to check the jar of pickled eggs. Two were missing.
The next night when we came to work, Nick Ferenz had called off sick. The following night when he came back he told the most horrible story about having to shit in his neighbor's bushes because he couldn't make it to his house. When his neighbor saw a car running with the driver's door open in front of his house, he went out to investigate and caught Nick behind his bushes. Nick said he was shitting like a goose all day. Believe it or not, we kept our composure as well as the secret. On this night, Nick snuck downstairs and ate one pickled egg. Upon his return the following night he complained that his stomach was still upset and he was going to the doctor when he got off the next morning. We decided to have mercy on him and attached a note to the pickled egg jar which read, Help yourself, Nick!!!
We had been having a huge problem with someone raiding the fridge and swiping food from our lunch boxes. Nobody knew who was responsible. One night Dick met me in the parking lot and told me that he had doctored up his jar of pickled eggs with a strong laxative. He was intent on finding out who was stealing his lunch every night. It so happened that this particular night was a slow night and we were not out working much early. Around 3:30 am we hit the lead to start switching. When we finished about 6:15 am Dick went inside to check the jar of pickled eggs. Two were missing.
The next night when we came to work, Nick Ferenz had called off sick. The following night when he came back he told the most horrible story about having to shit in his neighbor's bushes because he couldn't make it to his house. When his neighbor saw a car running with the driver's door open in front of his house, he went out to investigate and caught Nick behind his bushes. Nick said he was shitting like a goose all day. Believe it or not, we kept our composure as well as the secret. On this night, Nick snuck downstairs and ate one pickled egg. Upon his return the following night he complained that his stomach was still upset and he was going to the doctor when he got off the next morning. We decided to have mercy on him and attached a note to the pickled egg jar which read, Help yourself, Nick!!!