Gordon's Part Time Job

Gordon's Part Time Job is the twentieth episode of Sodor High School: Thomas and Friends Tales.
==Synopsis==
Gordon gets a part-time job at Whiff's waste dump, but hides the fact about this from his friends out of fear of being laughed at.
==Plot==
Spring has arrived, the weather's nice, and home owners are engaging in "spring cleaning". Gordon, on the other hand, is riding his bike along his favorite path in Henry's Forest. He comes across Thomas and Emily, as Thomas wanted to show Emily more of the place. When she asks why it's called Henry's Forest, Gordon tells her about how Henry took time off school to plant new trees in the area following a strong gale that took down some of the old trees years ago. The other reason is that Henry often visits the forest. As Thomas notes how everyone helped Henry, Gordon catches a whiff of Whiff and Scruff's rubbish lorry/garbage truck passing by and complains about the smell, being glad he doesn't work at the dump before riding off. With that, Thomas continues showing Emily around, unaware of her inner turmoil towards telling him about her kissing him on Valentine's Day in his sleep.
Later that evening at Gordon's home, the boy in question finds his parents in the kitchen waiting for him. They tell him that since they know he's been looking for a part-time job, they've been asking their friends and one agreed to hire him so long as he works hard. When Gordon asks who's the friend, they say it's Scott; Gordon realizes that the job is at Whiff's dump. His Mother explains that Whiff and Scruff need the help due to spring cleaning and although Gordon doesn't like the job (and nobody else is hiring), he takes the job for the money and work experience. While Gordon's Father goes to let Whiff known, Gordon sulks as he fears the possibility of Henry, James, and Spencer learning about this and laughing at him for it.
The next afternoon, Gordon sneaks out after school ends so no one would see him going to the dump. He isn't happy when he arrives,but lets Whiff give him a tour of the entire dump which Gordon sees is much bigger than he thought. One building, where Scruff is usually stationed, is the recycling center, where he removes any garbage that isn't meant to be recycled. Soon Whiff sets Gordon to work in another building separating trash.
Gordon sets to work, spending most of the afternoon removing rubbish and putting it into a bin to be taken away to the rubbish crusher later. At around six in the evening, he hears footsteps and figures it's Whiff or Scruff. When the person speaks, he discovers it's James and rushes out the nearest door with the rubbish bin to the crusher. James enters with a bag of rubbish he brought and since he can't find anybody, he simply leaves the bag and leaves (getting nauseous from the smell of the place.) After he's gone, Gordon returns glad that James hadn't seen him and takes the rubbish bag he left away.
When Gordon returns, he finds Scruff waiting for him. Scruff tells Gordon that he forgot to shut off the rubbish machine begore leaving his post, and as a result Scruff had to remove several pieces of garbage from the recycling. Since it's Gordon's first day, Scruff lets him off with a warning and lets him go home. When he gets there, Gordon discovers that James called his Mother asking where he is and Gordon tells her that they missed each other when he was at the dump.
That night, Gordon couldn't sleep well as he keeps worrying about his friends and Spencer mocking him for his job. The next morning at school, James questions Gordon about where he had been the previous day. Since his Mother mentioned he was at his part-time job but didn't say what it was, Gordon tells him and Henry that he sorts things and that he'll let them know when he's able to hang out. As class gets started, Emily and Thomas note Gordon's stressed state.
After school, Gordon bikes to the rubbish dump and got to work in the recycle center. He kept an eye on the machine and made sure to remove anything that wasn't meant to be recycled. At around five in the evening, Scruff came in to see how Gordon was doing and finds him working hard and making no mistakes. Scruff decides he's earned a break and offers him a soda in the office, which Gordon accepts after turning off the machine. As he exits the building, he catches sight of Henry lugging two rubbish bags and hides behind the building while his friend talks to Scruff. When Henry mentions hanging out with James and Gordon after dropping off the bags, Scruff tries to point out Gordon but doesn't see him anywhere. Henry assumes Gordon dropped off rubbish himself and he just missed him, so he leaves. Scruff finds Gordon in the office and questions why he keeps vanishing every time his friends show up, but figures out why he's concerned since Scruff felt the same way when he started working at the dump. His friends found out about his job and when he confirmed it, he waited for them to laugh at him only to find they were proud and impressed he was helping to keep Sodor clean, laughing with Scruff about it instead of at him. Scruff tells Gordon that if James and Henry are really his friends, they' respect him for his hard work. Gordon thanks Scruff for his words and they prepare to head back to work just as Spencer, Thomas, and Emily arrive with rubbish. When Spencer asks why Gordon's there, his cousin tells the truth and Spencer bursts out laughing to Thomas and Emily's anger. Just then, James and Henry tell him off for laughing at Gordon's expense, to which Spencer says he doesn't consider the dump anything important; Scruff then says that if the trash wasn't taken care of, they'd have to open a new dump in a different location, such as the Duke and Duchess's house. Spencer is shocked by the thought and Scruff proceeds to further explain the dump's importance and how the recycling and rubbish can be used for various things. James and Henry finish the argument by pointing out that unlike Spencer, Gordon knows the meaning of hard work and they are impressed with his job, leaving a fuming Spencer to leave his rubbish and depart.
Gordon is reassured by all his friends that they'd never laugh at him over what he does so as thanks, he offers them a tour of the recycling center. While James and Henry accept the offer, Thomas and Emily refuse since they're going to Ffarquhar to hang out with Toby and Mavis (leading to Gordon teasing them about having a double date, which they protest to.) As Thomas and Emily leave, the trio notes how the two are undoubtedly in love and James finds he isn't as upset about their attraction as he was before; with that, Gordon starts giving his friends the tour.
==Characters==
* Thomas 
* Emily 
* James 
* Gordon 
* Henry
* Spencer
* Whiff
* Scruff (Debut)
* The Gresley family
** Mr. Gresley (Debut)
** Mrs. Gresley (Debut)
* Tidmouth Class Teacher (cameo)
* Toby (mentioned)
* Mavis (mentioned)
* Hiro (mentioned)
* The Duke and Duchess of Boxford (mentioned)
==Cast==
==Trivia==
* This episode is based on the television series episode from the fourteenth season, "O' the Indignity".
* This episode takes place two months after the previous one.
Category:Thomas and Friends
Category:Sodor High School
Category:Episodes
Category:Fan Fiction