Len Delorenzi was famous for his facial expressions and impersonations of the less fortunate. He could contort his countenance in a certain manner and you would swear that you were in the very presence of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. You even had a sneaking suspicion that there was a Gypsy woman named Esmeralda lurking somewhere in the building. What surprised us most about Len was that he was also a very good practical joker.
One story comes to mind. I don’t remember the day of the week but it was definitely supper time at headquarters and most of us enjoyed what we called “Sergeant Major Tea” (I still have no idea who named it that and why). The pecking order was in full mode with the senior guys at one end of the table with those with less seniority waning off towards the other end of the table. It was now that Len hatched his perfect joke.
I have no idea who was at the table that day but Len left the table and filled the tea pot with the boiling water from the kettle and returned to the table standing over us as he joined in the conversation while slowly shaking the tea pot in a circular motion in order to let the tea steep. He did this for at least five minutes. Then the unbelievable happened!
HE DROPPED THE TEA POT ON THE TABLE!!!!!
We all screamed like school girls and made a mad dash to avoid the imminent 3rd degree scalding burns that we knew some of us were about to receive. The pot hit the table with a loud crash….the lid flew off and…..
Only then did we realize that the damned tea pot was EMPTY!!!!!!!!!!
I think I saw Len’s tonsils when he laughed.
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