Tough Guys
They don't make them like they used to.
Now don't get me wrong here.
I'm not saying I'm a tough guy.
I have never been in a fight and most likely will spend my whole life never throwing a punch in anger, but my Mom and Dad instilled a toughness in all of us. Despite the physical pain I've been in over the last couple of years I won't even consider shutting it down...and some of the guys in the construction field really respect me for that as I limp around.
But I grew up thinking that's the way it should go down.
A few years ago an iron worker buddy of mine was watching basketball at my house. We ate some big steaks and as we settled in to drink beer and watch the games he asked me for a bag of ice. He rolled up his pants leg to expose a knee that was swollen to five times it's normal size. I had watched him walk the iron the day before.
"What the hell?" I asked.
"Stubbed it the other day," he said as he applied the ice.
"Dude, you gotta' go to the doctors," I said. "Fill out an accident report."
He gave me a two-word answer...the second word was "it".
He never filed an accident report. I wonder how long it took for his knee to work properly.
And in this day and age that's amazing...there's a lawyer on the television advertising free money. In New York State, you get it too! You can take three years off if you want to!
But the other day another guy took toughness to a whole new level. He got lucky, mind you, but man!
I got the call and heard the name of the guy who'd fallen...I've known the guy for 20 years...I was worried for him, but in the back of my mind I wondered if I'd find him back at work when I pulled up.
The guy had been working 14' up installing steel deck.
(This is an OSHA-compliant procedure by the way, for any interested people).
His partner lifted the 32' sheet as the wind gusted. The wrong guy picked up the sheet. If they had picked it from the other side the wind wouldn't have lifted the sheet and tossed the guy to the deck below.
"As I was going down I noticed that I couldn't grab the steel beam so I tucked the shoulder and rolled. WWF-Style."
He had visited the medical center because he'd been bleeding profusely from somewhere.
"A piece of welding rod got stuck in my elbow," he said. "I'm good though. I didn't take the aspirin they offered, but I had to take the Band-Aid."
He was looking away from me back to the steel above.
"I gotta' get back to work," he said.
I was smiling.
"There's still a few tough guys left like me and you," he said.
I was smiling even more.
There was no sense in telling him to be a bit more careful. He knew what had happened was of a fluky nature.
He went back up to his position. 14' above the deck. He lifted a piece of deck and set it in place to weld it. He pulled a welding rod from his bag and gave me a quick head nod before his welding mask fell down into position.
Now don't get me wrong here.
I'm not saying I'm a tough guy.
I have never been in a fight and most likely will spend my whole life never throwing a punch in anger, but my Mom and Dad instilled a toughness in all of us. Despite the physical pain I've been in over the last couple of years I won't even consider shutting it down...and some of the guys in the construction field really respect me for that as I limp around.
But I grew up thinking that's the way it should go down.
A few years ago an iron worker buddy of mine was watching basketball at my house. We ate some big steaks and as we settled in to drink beer and watch the games he asked me for a bag of ice. He rolled up his pants leg to expose a knee that was swollen to five times it's normal size. I had watched him walk the iron the day before.
"What the hell?" I asked.
"Stubbed it the other day," he said as he applied the ice.
"Dude, you gotta' go to the doctors," I said. "Fill out an accident report."
He gave me a two-word answer...the second word was "it".
He never filed an accident report. I wonder how long it took for his knee to work properly.
And in this day and age that's amazing...there's a lawyer on the television advertising free money. In New York State, you get it too! You can take three years off if you want to!
But the other day another guy took toughness to a whole new level. He got lucky, mind you, but man!
I got the call and heard the name of the guy who'd fallen...I've known the guy for 20 years...I was worried for him, but in the back of my mind I wondered if I'd find him back at work when I pulled up.
The guy had been working 14' up installing steel deck.
(This is an OSHA-compliant procedure by the way, for any interested people).
His partner lifted the 32' sheet as the wind gusted. The wrong guy picked up the sheet. If they had picked it from the other side the wind wouldn't have lifted the sheet and tossed the guy to the deck below.
"As I was going down I noticed that I couldn't grab the steel beam so I tucked the shoulder and rolled. WWF-Style."
He had visited the medical center because he'd been bleeding profusely from somewhere.
"A piece of welding rod got stuck in my elbow," he said. "I'm good though. I didn't take the aspirin they offered, but I had to take the Band-Aid."
He was looking away from me back to the steel above.
"I gotta' get back to work," he said.
I was smiling.
"There's still a few tough guys left like me and you," he said.
I was smiling even more.
There was no sense in telling him to be a bit more careful. He knew what had happened was of a fluky nature.
He went back up to his position. 14' above the deck. He lifted a piece of deck and set it in place to weld it. He pulled a welding rod from his bag and gave me a quick head nod before his welding mask fell down into position.
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