A RAISE IN PAY
by John Burchill

Bill McMahon was an old man when I was just a youngster and he told me this story. When he was about twelve years old he lived on Beaubairs Island and had a job working at the mill on the mainland. He had to get up early in the morning, milk and feed the cows, eat breakfast and row a boat across the river in order to be at work by seven o'clock. Then he put in a ten hour day picking wood out of the wood chain. After working all day in all forms of weather he had to row back to the island, milk and feed the cows again, grab a bite of supper and go to bed. They were long hard days. He worked six days a week and had damn little time for fun or relaxation. He worked at this job all one summer for twenty five cents a day. The following summer he decided to ask the boss for a raise in pay. At the first opportunity he approached the boss with his concern. He carefully explained how he had to get up so early in the morning to tend the livestock at home, row across the river, work on the wood chain ten hours a day under the hot sun or in the rain, row back home to more barn work, eat and go directly to bed. He put in a terribly long, hard day and felt that this summer he should have a raise in pay. When he finished his presentation the boss asked, "How much are you getting now?"Bill answered, "Twenty five cents a day." "How much do you want?" the boss asked. 'Bill replied, "It should be worth thirty cents a day." The boss snapped back, "Do you want the whole mill too?"