MATEWAN

Feckless Piker(FP): Oddvark and I watched the movie Matewan last night. How'd you like the movie Oddvark?

Oddvark (OC): I liked all that coal.

FP: What about Chris Cooper and Mary McDonnell, didn't you think they gave good performances?

OC: Oh yeah, the whole cast gave good performances, especially David Strathairn and Kevin Tighe. There's just something about all that coal though; it really turns me on.

FP: I guess they don't call you Oddvark for nothing.

OC: Hell, I would have fit right in there in Matewan at the turn of the century.

FP: Those union guys had guts. They were constantly being harassed, attacked and even killed by the Pinkertons.

OC: The pinkerwhats?

FP: Pinkertons. That was what they called the private detectives and private police that were hired by the corporate moguls to bust the unions back then. They used all kinds of underhanded tactics like spies, misinformation, blackmail, and even violence to stop the trade union movement from organizing the coal miners and railroad workers.

OC: Do we belong to a union Feckless?

FP: You have to have a job to belong to union.