Labor Day!

Jake has joined me in the construction safety world and I met him at a site yesterday morning.

“Where are you?” He texted.

“By the trailer,” I answered. “Talking to William.”

William is a lifelong laborer in heavy road construction. He retired at 62 because:

1). He needed a new hip and

2). He had neck & spine surgery.

William chatted to me about his love for the Oklahoma Sooners. A lifetime commitment that began when he was just 8 years old.

As Jake joined me, William told us about his four children.

All successful adults now.

“I worked so many long hours. I was behind every paver on every street in the county.”

Not easy work!

“You gave up your body so that your kids would succeed.”

William nodded.

“Didn’t think I of it that way, but I was an uneducated, black man. I had nothing to give but my body and my willingness to drag my ass out of bed.”

It wasn’t lost on me that Jake was standing beside me. I’ve told him time and again to respect the workers - and he has from his first time on a site.

“You off this weekend?” I asked William.

“Damn right,” he said. “I’m serious about resting on Labor Day.”

And then William stunned both of us.

He rolled up his pant leg to show us that his left leg was artificial.

“Gave my body up,” he said. “Lost my leg in an accident with a piece of equipment,” he said.

“And you came back to work,” I said.

“Damn right!” William said.

We exchanged a fist bump.

“That’s why I go fishing on Labor Day!”