"No," said Lightener, bestowing no word of commendation. Men had little commendation from him by word of mouth. He let actions speak for him. When he gave a man a task to perform that man knew he was being complimented…. But he knew it in no other way.
"That's the way a laborer feels," said Lightener…. "You got it multiplied. That's because you had to jam his whole life's experience into a day…."
"Poor devils!" said Bonbright.
"I'm going to put you in the purchasing department—after that, if you make good—into the sales end…. Able to go ahead to-day?"
"Yes."
"Before you amount to a darn as a business man you've got to know how to buy…. That's the foundation. You've got to be able to buy right. Then you've got to learn how to make. Selling is easiest of all—and there are darn few real salesmen. If you can buy, you can do anything."
"I—I would rather stay out of the shops, Mr. Lightener. The men—found out who I was…I'd like to stay there till they—forget it."
"You'll go where I put you. Men enough in the purchasing department. Got a tame anarchist there, I hear, and a Mormon, and a Hindu, and a single-taxer. All kinds. After hours. From whistle to whistle they BUY."
Lightener took Bonbright personally to his new employment and left him. But Bonbright was not satisfied. Once before he had sought contact with men who labored, and he had landed in a cell in police headquarters. That had been mere boyish curiosity to find what it was all about. Now his desire to know was real. He had been—very briefly, it is true—one of them. Now he wanted to know. He wanted to know how they thought, and why they thought that way. He wanted to understand their attitude toward themselves, toward one another, toward the class they largely denominated as Capital. He had caught snatches of conversation—interesting to him, but none had talked to him. He wanted to get on a footing with them which would permit him to listen, and to talk. He wanted to hear arguments. He wanted to go into their homes and see their wives and find out what their wives thought…. All this had been brought to him by a few days in overalls. He had no idea that Lightener had intended it should be brought to him….
However, that must lie in the future; his present business was to do as he was told and to earn his wages. He must earn his wages, for he had a family to support…. It was his first experience with the ever-present fear of the wage earner—the fear of losing his job.