Last Time With Scott

The last time I did anything with my son was a year ago. We went to the park and flew my small drones. I sorely wish I'd had a microSD card in the bigger one. It would have been the last and newest images of him. But the microSD had been removed and placed into a camera for one of my many vacations.

Scott had become an automotive mechanic. He was an artist at heart, but somehow wanted to be a mechanic. He didn't take to the demanding, fast-paced work. The pace took all the fun out of it.
He was hired by a place that knew he was fresh out of school, yet they expected him to become a master mechanic within a year. That's crazy, but that's how they were.
He was ridiculed for his long hair, his green streak through it. It certainly wasn't the customary for mechanics.
One day, he screwed-up a new part, trying to get it onto a Jeep. They were so livid. Scott quit. They would have fired him if he hadn't.

He was devastated.

He told me that last time we were together that he "might never turn a wrench again." Well, I started as a factory worker, became a tool-and-die machinist, but dumped that career and headed into technology. I knew it was hard, but it's not the end of the world. The average person goes through 3-4 career changes in their lifetime.

Scott was quiet. He normally was. I was nervous about him. Things didn't seem right. What could I do? He had everything he needed. His parents were his safety net. We had enough money between us, money wasn't a problem. He had his health.

He lined up a temporary job, just to avoid being unemployed, as a dock worker, part-time, 4 hours each weekday morning. It sucked! He'd have to wake at nearly 3am to be at work at 4am.

He waited over a week before telling me he'd quit. I had been wishing he and I could have spent more time together, but I realized it's not easy starting out, and that he didn't get as much time off. As a machinist, I didn't get a single hour of time off until after completing a year of employment. Then I would be awarded a week of vacation and a week of sick leave. So I figured he might be the same. And even then, he might not want to "waste it" with his dad, when he's got several friends to spend it with.

His dock job was at Target department store. He was supposed to attend orientation first. So he went, but forgot a 2nd form of ID. So they rescheduled him for a week later.
That's when he told me he was unemployed.
Then we spent our last day together.
Then he attended his 2nd orientation. This time he was wearing the wrong shirt. He was supposed to wear a red shirt - Target's signature color. So they rescheduled him again, or so I guess.