I spent two months working at a fruit shop in Mexico. I learned a lot about how my parents may have grown up, and it was a culture shock and a half. I learned how to fuck around with others. And how to flirt…a little, still need some more training. I’m in a bittersweet time, I want to stay and work but I miss my family back in the States. The work was exhausting and so much fucking fun.
The work consisted of loading a box truck in Gualadajara, bringing it back, unloading, and dispersing the loads to the smaller stores, and stocking shelves for 300 pesos a day (roughly 17$ USD). I had a lot of thoughts on this, and at first I thought this sucks and was unfair. As the days went by I understood this job isn’t a career job this is a job that helps you grow into the workforce.
The youngest employee I found was like 5 years old and they worked for tips bagging at the register. And they would bust your balls just as hard as the older kids. The next age range was 10 to 13 these guys would start working as the stockers and help with lightweight dollys. 14 to 16 is where the heavy work started, they would carry anywhere from 12kg crates (these were my favorite to carry Papayas) to 40kg sacks of Cucumbers. They would have competitions (naturally a bunch of testosterone-fueled teens provoke competition) one gentleman was able to hold 3 sacks which is roughly 120kg, insane. Last was the 17+ guys, these dudes are the ones that were absolute workhorses, the dollys would range from 6 box small dollys (70kg-120kg) to 20 box Large dollys carrying anywhere between 240kg to 360kg. Holyshit dude that’s 794 in freedom units (lbs) carried by a 190lb kid, WTF. These guys are awesome, the photo above is us playing chess in the parking lot.
This is the box truck, this was my office, my bed, my gym. There was a team of five and I was a lucky 6th guy who got to tag along and helped. The team consisted of; The Sourcer, who was the man in charge and was responsible for finding the fruits and vegetables we loaded. The Driver, his job was to drive us there take a nap, and get us back safely. The Checker, is in charge of checking the quality of all the produce before it’s loaded. And finally but not least the “Chalanes” Google Translate spits out Guys which I find amusing, these guys are the two gentlemen that are ar in charge of playing 3D Tetris with all the different shapes and sizes that are delivered from the vendors. They have to lift, fit, throw, catch, & pack this big ass truck. This was the position I was taking an apprenticeship in, and I fuckin loved it!
Our day started by unloading all these crates you see above, I treated this as a warm-up and a time to wake up since the moment we organized the crates next to the truck and stood up the wood slabs the work was waves of intense loading and sweating. Buuuuuut before any of this the true beginning of my day started at 8 pm the night before. I’d start by getting ready and out the door by 9 pm. A small walking commute to the parking lot where the truck was and hopping into the sleeper cabin. Now this cabin was pretty gross, the first night I ever went in was in the dark and I couldn’t sleep from the excitement. The second night was probably the worst. I made the mistake of using my phone light, I opened the door turned on the light and I saw the community of roaches scatter. I held my dinner as I crawled in, it was a warm night that night so I left the door open and I could feel the mosquitos biting as I slept. Once the other guys made it in at their times usually like clockwork, me 9:30, Rulas 10:45, Garri 2 am, Chino 2:20, Primo 2:30, & Valo 2:45. It’s kinda funny thinking back we all came in in a type of hierarchy, the later the higher you were on the ladder.
Anyway, I soon learned how to prepare to sleep in there and to bring a hoodie for the animal kingdom in there. Once we all got to the truck we were off and as the bumps rocked us to sleep our alarm clock was the airbreak and heavy knocking from Primo as he untied the rope holding the door shut of the sleeper. Once awake we were all off to our roles and organizing our work space. 4-5hrs later once loaded we tied up the truck roof tarp down as tight as our drained muscles would allow and back to the sleeper. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about our bed buddies that 1.5-inch mattress felt like a cloud and I got some of the best sleep I’ve ever had. And as the truck rocked us to sleep we recovered since soon we would be back at it to unload. Errrrt pisssst, a crowd of kids and young men are prepping the parking lot for the highway of dollies that are gonna take over for the next hour. We get out and take the next 10 min to wake up hydrate and hop right back into it. The man with the list will start listing where everything goes. We’d yell “Cabbage!” and he’d say “Two to 1, none to 2, one to 3, and the rest inside” and we’d make it happen. Dollies would be loaded, shoulders would carry single, double, or triple crates to where they go. It was organized chaos, every once in a while you’d bump into someone with something heavy and you’d throw some profanities at each other, it was awesome. Just to be clear you’d still share your food and laughs with that same man later.
After the truck was unloaded you’d be assigned a store and you’d hop in or on the truck that was heading that way and finish your day stocking that store till you finished. Usually, the day ended around 1-2 pm. Get home sleep and get ready for what comes next. Our Trips were 4 times a week. My favorite part was always the trip, the sunrise was always a nice touch.
Bonus: I saw a lot of crazy shit on this trip but one thing that stood out to me was; every once in a while one of our regular dolly-men, in Gualadajara, was an addict. He would regularly do Coke, this dude would do a Coke break, smoke a joint, and do a little crack too. This is no joke and this dude was not the only one. The part that kinda was in my head was he would ask us if he could come into the truck and do a line, he’d grab two crates one to sit once to use as a table, he’d put his phone down and drop the white powder line it up with a card and just like the movies roll a bill and went to booger sugar heaven. Was wild to see in person so casually.
