Back in my wicked youth, I worked for Toys R Us. When it got close to Christmas, we seemed to get one truck after another and I was on the crew which unloaded them. We would get about ten guys and form a line and toss the toys down the line, from the back of the truck to our storage area. After a moment I took up singing my own version of 16 Tons, the song made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford. The altered lyrics went something like this:

When we see them coming, can’t step aside. The boss man says they got toys inside. Said we gotta get the toys out on the toy floor, so keep on goin’ till there ain’t no more.

Unloaded sixteen trucks and what did I get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go. I owe my soul to the Toys R Us store.

I would make up a line and then all the other guys started chiming in on the chorus. We had a lot of fun, until the manager came to the back and made us quit. We were so loud the customers in the front of the store could hear us and were laughing. The boss didn’t care for the “sold our souls to the Toys R Us Store” line. Seems like the “man” is always putting down the workers, don’t it?

Here’s the original for your viewing pleasure: