"Who threw that Buick?" The group's playful chatter suddenly fell into
embarrassed silence. "David? Joseph? Come on, admit it." The amplified
voice paused a moment, but no response was given. "I'm not laughing
here. If I can't turn my back for ten seconds without you chucking
stuff into the air, none of you are going to pass."
The
students looked back and forth at each other, at their shoes, at their
dashboards. No one said
anything.
A
weary sigh came through the loudspeakers. "Fine, I don't even need to
know who did it this time. Just don't let
it happen again." Papers rustled, the familiar sound of the
evaluation logbook. "Let's try once
more before lunch. This time remember you need to grab the cars at the front end,
where the engine block is. If you try from the roof your magnet will
lose grip, no matter how smooth you are on the controls. Joseph, I'm
talking to you."
"Get the cranes back to center. Pull the dozers
up. Backhoe two, come a few degrees clockwise. More... a little more...
stop. Great. Cue the music, and, five! six! seven! eight!"