When I worked out in the shop at Ridgway Roof Truss in Gainesville, Florida, I had a friend name Ken who drove a truck. Ken would tell me stories about big loads he had taken around curves (too slowly - he was in traffic) where two of his wheels left the ground for a moment. It made Ken, the sensitive sort, a nervous wreck. I also remember coming by Ken’s house on a Saturday, and being surprised to find that he was trying his hand a painting. Now, Ken looked the part of a truss plant truck driver (in my mind,) portly, big mustache, plain talking – and there we was painting with watercolors. Ken helped me to realize that you really never know what someone’s insides are like by looking at their outsides. He also taught me that truck drivers have one of the toughest, most nerve-wracking jobs in the industry.
I remember the crew we had at Ridgway, even today, almost thirty years later. What a bunch of characters! That group taught me (among other thing) that guys in their twenties almost always have a lot of drama in their lives. It does not mean that they aren’t good workers, or good people, but they are going to have rough times sometimes and probably make mistakes. Guys in their thirties should be transitioning out of that… much less drama, and if you still have a high degree of drama going on when you’re 40, well, there it’s probably not your age that’s the cause, it’s you.
In a small shop everybody knows what kind of work everybody else does. In our crew, almost everyone did excellent work. The biggest difference was simply that some people were innovators – idea men, and many were not. A nice, stable, hardworking crew was a pleasure to work with. You had a team spirit thing going on, even with no one doing the “rah! rah!” thing. At break and at lunch on those hot Florida days, we’d stand around together sweating, but we’d be sweating together. In that crew you also knew that if you had an ‘off day’ that the other guys would overlook it (generally) because they knew that most days you did a great job.
We had some fun out in the shop. Why are there more nicknames in a shop then in an office? I think it’s because less was expected of us and therefore we felt more comfortable doing goofy things – but those things helped our morale. A happy workplace is one where good moods are in evidence, and a fair number of jokes are played on the unsuspecting.
In that truss shop and during my grocery store gig, I learned that the people who make up the ‘labor,’ are just the same as the people in the office – they are either just at a different time in their lives or they’ve had different circumstances to deal with. Their just as smart, just as capable, and have just as many surprises up their sleeve as anyone else. They make our places of businesses work, and by and large have a great sense of pride in what they do, and in turn do a great job.