Low-Skilled Labor

A politician, (I forget which one) sent a tweet in which he referred to a large group of people as “unskilled labor”.

During the lockdown portion of Covid we certainly depended on those people to do their jobs. 

We also saw how much trouble we are in when we have a shortage of such ‘unskilled’ people.

Last week I swing through a Tim Horton’s because my wife was in urgent need to an Ice Cappe.

There was a young, black kid at the window. He took my money and made change and I listened in as his boss yelled at the kid for not doing a good job of cleaning up the counter.

The kid said, “Yes, sir.”

The guy yelled, “Don’t call me sir, and take care of your customer. Come on!”

I saw the anguish in the kid’s eyes.

“Sorry,” he said. “My first day.”

“You’re doing good,” I said. I rolled up a $5 bill and waited until the boss was out of the picture.

“That’s for you,” I said. “Don’t share it with that asshole.”

The kid laughed.

“Hang in there.”

I always leave a tip in the room after a hotel stay. I over tip every single waitress.

I’m not doing it or saying it for any sort of pat on the back. 

I do it because their employers don’t pay what they should (wages have gone up lately because the employers couldn’t find help) but the truth of the matter is that these “unskilled” people work hard.

And it bothers the hell out of me when some “big shot” treats them like garbage or looks down their nose at them.

I often think about Don Mattingly when he was the best player in baseball. 

One night he was in the clubhouse and noticed that the garbage bag was overfilled.

He grabbed the bag and walked it to the dumpster and a very nervous clubhouse attendant ran up to Mattingly, apologizing profusely.

“I’m not above helping out,” Mattingly reportedly told the kid.

I heard that story way back in 1985 and may not have it completely right, but I think about it because it stuck with me.

There are times when I will grab a bucket of concrete and carry it up the steps for the plumbing crew.

I buy a random coffee for a few laborers on the jobs if I hit the truck at the same time as them.

On a demolition job, just a couple of months ago, I stopped and talked to a couple of guys who were covered in dust and debris. I helped them push their mobile scaffold through a tight doorway.

“That’s why you’re the shit,” one of the guys said.

“I’m not above helping out,” I told him.

Thing is…

…you start looking down at people it says way more about you than it does about them.

“Unskilled.”

God that gets under my skin!