An Argument At Work

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bambooneedle
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An Argument At Work

Post by bambooneedle »

This happened some time ago. The names are real except mine but it doesn't matter now.



"... I was just finishing a feature on a wall that went around some big vents. A bricklaying feature. It had about 21 cut soldier headers along the lintel. The whole thing was just a 15mm protruded frame, with cut soldiers on the bottom as well and full brick stacked piers on the sides. 1800 x 1200.

We'd had a pallet of those cuts to lay over a shitload of windows... so I was looking for it, and asked my dickhead foreman where it might have been or if there were any around. He goes, "(let's call me Luke) Luke, there's the new saw (the old one had just been stolen), cut some on that". I sez, "Nah, I'll just cut them with me bolster -- I only need 5 or 6". Then he goes, "No, you should just cut them on the saw... cut them on the saw." And I go, "Fuck the saw! -- I can do them perfectly with my bolster. Besides, up there, nobody's going to see the top surface of them. Nobody will ever see it."......
"Cut them on the saw, now!".......


So I walked back and climbed up the scaffold, an ambitiously high A-frame job on slanted ground sitting on screwjacks on bricks. I measured and cut the headers in a couple of minutes with my trusty bolster, and laid them in.

On many occassions Loewy'd said my headers looked "Fucking great."... So.... he comes down, says "Luke, go home. You've gotta go home". He couldn't take being offended over the fact that he'd made himself look to be a fool and in front of the others. But I'd never've made a scene, ya know.... I'd just refused and walked away and he thought I was making a point about him. Well, maybe I did. Inadvertently. Maybe it was quite telling... But I didn't give a fuck; it happens when a company gets bigger...

The way he'd tried to assert his "authority" was hugely foolish. He had just a fraction of the charisma he thought he had, and he thought he could often use it to effect in trying to tell someone how to do what they do. Half the time he did that, and half the time he thought we all thought he was lovable just as his deranged mother thought him to be. So he was a bit of a wanker really. He must have had his heart problems very early on, I'd guess.

So, I pack my gear... I start heading off. Now the boss is there though. Now, he's a bit of a joker. He sees me, calls out "Luke, stop there." ... He walks up. He thought I was alright cos I'd been in the Aussie Rules league. The Australian Football League's (the AFL's) eyes were on me when I played Aussie Rules at club level when I was a teenager. He played too, but then I suppose at some point soon after that he'd got old being in the building game as he'd been since he was a kid of 14. He got fat and his face had started to sag.

He says, "Luke, I can't undermine Loewy's authority and let you do the same.... what the fuck am I going to do now!? I'll only have 5 brickies on this site when I should have 6!". "Look Bob, I did my job. I cut the headers and laid them in minutes. No-one can see the tops of 'em up there. What more do you want? But I'm not gonna listen to a dickhead foreman tell me how to do my job!!".

That wall was for a series of garages for a big new retirement village. The last summer, we'd killed it. That was when i joined. It was mainly the units then, but we'd put in decorative letter box shelters, garden walls, and also foundation work. The units were going up so fast, like in that Housemartins song. And it was a scorcher of a summer. The 'mud' (mortar) would dry so fast, and the sweat would make all the dust and brick and grit, and t-shirts and shorts, cling to you. So he was willing to turn a blind eye to a lot of sloppiness, I tell ya. A lot. And the union didn't care.

-"Aw, those headers... they should really be cut".

-"But you can't see the top of them! Nooobody will ever see them."

- <looks at them> "Aw yeah! Fuck no..... Look Luke, I'm sorry, man; I can't make Loewy look like a fool." Loewy and Rob had been mates since when they were 8. Then they both went to Woringah* High, where I never went... then Loewy had his heart problems, he just had a weak heart condition. Bob now had 4 kids of his own, and all that paternality sometimes annoyingly transferred itself across to his attitude towards people at work. So it was there to be used at that moment. I sez, "Bring Loewy over here, bring 'im over 'ere." He laughed that I'd caught on so quick. "Loeeeeewy!!" <waves his arm>

-"Loewy, look, I'm sorry for the way I carried on before, let me shake your hand. And I want to know what you think about me staying for the rest of the day to work..."

-"Oh yeah, fine! Absolutely! We've got a lot to do, you... heh heh. And you're one of our best brickies, without a doubt. Hey, Luke, I'm sorry, man. But those headers are supposed to be cut (Yeah, now he knew. After confirming it with Bob. To Bob of course it hadn't occured that it might just be fine with bolster-cut headers... But now it had, through the word we'd just had for his information). So he goes, "Yep, they're really supposed to be cut; we don't wanna hafta pull them out at the end of the job if they don't want 'em. But, nah, yeah, they won't see those ones - the builder won't see those ones...

<breaks into loud, paternal kind of laughter>

....That's what I like to see! That's a gentleman!"

So, they "let me stay" for the rest of the day. We were working Saturdays - overtime rates. I wanted the money. ..."
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A rope leash
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Many years before he was famous

Post by A rope leash »

William Faulkner was a carpenter.
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mood swung
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Post by mood swung »

and a postmaster, but he read everybody's mail.

personally, where I work it's the coffee pots. I don't drink coffee, yet everyday I find that the coffee drinkers have turned off the burner but left the old coffee in the pot. I'm sure people have killed for less.
Like me, the "g" is silent.
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Poppet
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for your reading pleasure (*snort*)

Post by Poppet »

December 15 2004 (coincidentally, the day of our holiday party)

Memorandum

To: me (and each support staff member, individually.)
From: the bosses
Subject: Tardiness and Adherence to Work Schedule


In the past months, we have noticed a continued pattern of lack of adherence to your work schedule. This has continued despite conversations in the Administrative Assistant’s meeting on November 3.

You are among a number of administrative assistants who perform certain tasks in support of project managers, engineering, planning staff, and the overall department. It is bad for morale and, moreover, unacceptable unless everyone is committing to working their full schedule.

Because of this recurring lack of adherence to work schedule and work requirements, effective Monday, December 20, we request that you use the lower portion of your weekly time card to mark and initial the time that you arrive in the morning and that you leave work at the end of the day.

You are expected to work 40 hours per week, five eight hour days. According to our records, you have requested to begin work at 9:30 a.m.; therefore, you are expected to work until 6:30 p.m. with one hour for lunch. If your schedule is different from this, please let us know.

In the coming weeks, you will meet with us periodically to review your attendance. Any further incidence of tardiness may result in disciplinary action.

cc: your personnel file
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
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spooky girlfriend
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Post by spooky girlfriend »

I suppose you would be in a bit of trouble if you memo'd them back in reference to kissing your ass.

Or asking to have yourself docked for the three minutes you spend in the bathroom to pee.

But it is fun to think about doing it, right? :lol:
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bambooneedle
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Post by bambooneedle »

Harrison Ford was a carpenter as well.
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Poppet
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Post by Poppet »

i too work in construction. i process contracts between contractors/consultants and the owner, who is my employer (one of those major universities in Cambridge MA, you get two guesses.)

see? it all fits!

:)
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
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