The Longshoreman's Solace

You are a proud Longshoreman, born and raised in the city of 1950s Boston, where dreams are made and hearts are broken. You work the city's ports, a dangerous, laborious task that can only be undertaken by a real man's man. Work is scarce, and you've got mouths to feed, along with a weary wife at home who depends on you. Deliver the cargo from the docks to Local Union Chapter 593, a Longshoreman's Union owned by a corrupt yet just executive who has the whole town under his thumb. Dodge local lawmen and elegant gunslinging mafiosos; explode TNT and kill cops with stray bullets to make your life easier; grind out your measly comeuppance, day after day. Skin grown hard as leather in the jungles of these docks. Smell the salt on the wind, look up at that clear blue sky, and wonder -- will I ever make it out of this rat race we call the American Dream? Oh lord have mercy -- I can't be ground down like this forever in this hell of rust and iron. Visions of your family come to you, almost angelic in the early morning light. Your run-down hovel in the Irish Block -- is this all you have to show for your grueling work? Is this really all you can give them? But it's 6:00, and you can hear the horns -- the ships coming into harbor. No time for pondering, it's time to get to work.  So get at em, cowboy -- we can find a million other FOB micks who would gladly take your place.