Carl is walking through the package hub where he has worked for twenty years. His only concern is getting out of the building and to his car. He pays no attention to the thousands of rollers and hundreds of conveyer belts and human workers placed ten, twenty, thirty feet above him. He does not hear the continuous drive of machinery that creates a terrible symphonic sound, for which this ensemble includes the high pitched buzz of thousands of little silver rollers spinning, along with the accompaniment of the low hum of black rubber conveyer belts grinding, pushing, and pulling thousands of brown parcels through the system. The equipment produces a redolence of the sharp, metallic smell of electrical voltage coursing like blood through the arteries of the …show more content…
Step after step Carl drives his slim, fit, forty year old body which is clad in jeans, and a tee shirt through the structure of metal and concrete. His steel-toe, leather work boots push harder as his feet strike the solid grey floor. He is thumping along, keeping his gaze down and looking up only when he feels the presence of a co-worker getting too close. Carl hardly notices as he passes the docks the rush of air from outside which is circulating the smell of paper dust, diesel exhaust, grease, oil, and human sweat. He gives no interest to the voices of the dock supervisors and the human loaders yelling obscenities and grunting under the weight of their labor. Even the hissing of air brakes and the shudder of the large tractor-trailers backing onto the docks and crashing to a stop, have no effect on him. Carl is sweating and breathing hard as his lungs fill with oxygen and his heart pushes blood through his body. His body looks deceptively clean, but after working eight hours he will find himself coughing up and blowing out