Term of the Moment: "Don't Get a Sunburn"

"Don't Get a Sunburn"--Like the rest of the nation, stagehands are drinking much less than they used to, but there is still a proud crew that hits the gin mills during lunchtime, and for some hardcore drinkers, it is during the coffee break. The guy who taught me the term "Don't get a sunburn," a head's admonishment to his men, then proceeded to come back from lunch happier than he was at 8 a.m. The companion term is "gum chewer," which is when you see a crew of guys coming back from dinner chewing gum, which means that most likely beers were consumed. I was working a loadout recently, where somebody said, "Oh, So-and-So is fine until after lunch," commenting on the quality of his work in relation to the alcohol level in his blood.