Cars filled the parking lot, and weary faces wandered towards their stations carrying their lunch boxes and thermoses. Lawrence's eyes darted about, looking for the strange men, hoping not to see them. He left his jacket in his locker and felt ill at ease as he greeted the other guys. They talked for a few minutes, mostly about children and baseball, then went into the restricted area. The shipping section seemed quiet and unaffected. Lawrence didn't have any reason to be over there so he went to his machine and quietly went about his business. The whistle blew, and everyone got to work. Lawrence was aware that his mind wasn't on the job. It made it hard to produce like he had the first week. After an hour, he was a little behind his normal pace. He was embarrassed. Fear of disappointing his boss brought him back to the moment, and the rest of the morning went fine. When Frank checked his production, he patted him on the back, and told Lawrence he was doing a great job. “You mind if I ask you a question boss?”
