New Story for an Old Lunch Pail

I take a very special lunch pail with me to work every day. It is the lunch pail my grandfather took with him when he worked at the mill and the one my dad used during his brief employment with Simpson. It is an old lunch pail, a little grungy with rusty hinges. Still, I simply keep my food wrapped extra well and set it on the break room table with pride. My lunch pail has a history. It also has a new owner's experience to add to its being.

I set my lunch pail in the same spot on the same table every day (or so I have for the past six I have worked). Today, however, as I went into the lunch room to retrieve it, it was not in its spot. There was a retirement party occurring, so my pail had been moved to make way for a cake. I looked, but couldn't find it.

"It's on the window sill," a boy I work with volunteered.
"Thank you," I said.

I picked up my lunch pail to walk to my seat and discovered a piece of paper tucked under its rusty handle. I slowly unfolded it and turned bright red, I'm talking instant flush. I admit now that perhaps I over reacted. Someone had written a phone number on the piece of paper. There is no name, just a phone number. As I am on a first name basis with approximately two people at the plant, my supervisor and my trainer, I have no idea who it came from.

You might think it came from the boy who so gladly volunteered my lunch pail's location. Perhaps. But why not begin by saying, "Hello," or learning my name. What am I supposed to do with a phone number with no name, face, or person attached to it?

Also, as much as I would like to be, I am not that flattered. I am the only female I have run across in the plant's vicinity under the age of 35. If it did indeed come from one of the boys I work with, they don't have very many options. I'm about it. I also don't hesitate to admit that after working for 8 hours in the heat and dust, I am not in my most attractive state. I feel absolutely no need to wear make-up to work at a plywood plant. I'm a little confused actually as to why I recieved the paper in the first place.

I have yet to decide what to do. I am left with a random phone number. No other information included. But at least it adds one more piece of intrigue to my lunch pail.