"You Don't Know Nothin"

Or the Converse Your a----------------?

It’ a fresh bright early spring morning in Factoryville Pennsylvania. The birds are singing in the sycamore trees. I’m in a big old barn trying my damnedest to get a Horse-collar on an ornery Belgian workhorse. Every-time I go to put it over his head this beast jerks his head up down. On the floor goes the collar. From the other end of this crowded stall comes a small voice of a 12 year old. “You don’t know nothin.” Oh, so your wonderin, What on earth am I doing in Factoryville Pennsylvania in an old barn trying to harness up a giant Belgian work-horse? Indulge me as l back up a little.

It was 1936 on a farm in Factoryville Pennsylvania. Near the worlds longest concrete poured railroad bridge. I was, a young radical in love with coal miners. They were and remain the most important workers on the planet. Without them there is no electricity, no minerals no electronics, nothing.

At the coal mine office the Super. laughed. “You came all the way from New York City for a job here as a Mule Boy? You gotta be crazy. We got more kids whose fathers work in these mines than we could employ for the next hundred years. Want my advice? Get yourself back home as quick as possible cause there’s nothing here for you.” My savior was the name of a fellow radical whose family owned a nearby farm. That’s where I ended up.

The farm family. Mother father a baby and nine brothers all coal miners except the youngest 12 year old Charlie. Because it was summer there was work on the farm. “Do you know how to plow, cut and rake hay, pick beans, like that”. “Oh yes of course” was a much to fast reply. “We can only pay 25 cents an hour plus room and board. You’ll sleep in with the boys. Start tomorrow. You’ll plow that upper pasture use Big Bill he an easier horse to handle.” I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.

(Little background.) As an 8 year old I was sent to a camp that was connected to an adjoining farm. At that farm I had been exposed to some of what the folks in Pennsylvania were talking about. Next morning bright an early all 10 or 12 for breakfast and one 2 year old creeping around the well worn kitchen board floor.

Breakfast was pork chops, mashed potatoes bread and coffee. Lots of coffee including for the baby on the floor. After breakfast it’s out to the barn. That morning broke beautiful, sweet spring air, I cannot believe the size of the two Belgians horses. The stall says, Big Bill. That’s my horse.

I’m thinking. Now try to remember what the dam harness looks like. As I said the first thing is to get the Horse Collar over the horses head. I was at the verge of despair when that voice from nowhere said “you don’t no nothin.” I am now face to face with Charlie the 12 year old. Youngest of the nine brothers. A kid about half my size. I quickly agree that I sure don’t know how to hook this horse to the plow. Oh, yes I’m telling him it’s the biggest horse I’ve ever seen and all that sort of bullshit as the little guy just stands there shaking his head repeating,”you don’t know nothin.”

“Okay so you show me.” “yeah but it’s gonna cost you.” Okay how much? A quarter. You got it. "Okay look out." Putting the Collar down he stands on a box putting the Bridle over the horses head. “Once you get this Bridle on his head you can keep him from jerking it. You know what, he’d rather stay in the barn than work that field. He ain’t about to help you with this stuff. Get it?” He gets the horse all rigged up ready for the field.

Wedded by our business transaction we are on our way to the meadow. Charlie, is pointing me in the direction of where to plow. I put the bridal strap over my shoulder and I’m off down the field hangin on to the plow for dear life. Charlie said, "The trick is to keep the steel plow blade pointed into the ground.I make it to the end of the field and am trying to hang on to the plow while turning Big Bill around. There’s that piping annoying but God saving sound, “You don’t know nothin.” Look out he says as he throws the reins around his shoulder bears down on one side of it and there’s Big Bill turning himself around. “That’s another quarter city slicker.” Charlie added that latter part to increase the humiliation of the big city slicker. I ignore it as I know in my gut he’s going to be my mentor for any future stumbles.

As I went from job to job."You don’t know nothin” became a mantra in my life. Each new job was either to advance my skills or simply hold the job so I could organize the place. That might have been my rationalization for hanging on to “you don’t know nothin.” In fact I had learned a very forgiving way to be accepted into the work family. The converse of course was, “Oh! so your a smart ass know it all.”? Yes there was that tendency from Street Corner speaking where in a way you had to sort of know it all in order to get people listening. For young passionate Marxists this was a big problem.

Every shop is like a family and an easy way to be excepted is through I,”don;t know nothin.” What goes with that is an invitation to “Please help me for like you I am just trying to make a living.” Wow, did it ever work. I had learned a critical lesson for organizing. If you want to be part of the group no making believe that your smarter than the rest of us cause that’s just gonna piss folks off and they will make your life miserable for the “know it all.”

Many thanks to the 12 year old in Factoryville Penn. for a piece of lifelong learning. Yeah I still, “don’t know nothin.” As regular readers of this blog I hope understand I do know a few things that are simply based on what I have lived through. A favorite lesson learned in college at age 47 was in order to gain new knowledge it was critical to acknowledge what you don’t know and that was and is plenty. Maybe if I get to 100 I’ll change my mind again. In the meantime I try to embrace “You don’t know nothin.”

PS. As I write this I have a growing concern that the Occupy Folks are drifting. They seem to be warming for a fight with Trinity Church over the use of church property for occupation. Wrong wrong target. Get back on targeting the one percent.