See With Your Eyes

When i started this blog i insisted that it would not be personal, but this story is worth sharing.

Last May, about a month after finishing up my last work for the school year, i found myself out to lunch with some of my relatives on my father's side of the family. This came at a point during which i had no idea what my plans for the summer were. The firm i had sent a portfolio to had never responded to my repeated followup inquiries, and even my backup during-school job wasn't turning up any leads for the summer. I had prepared a number of canned speeches for the typical conversations that arose regarding my future, mostly in the interest of staving off having to make any real choices.

"So what are you plans for the summer?" People would ask. Well, i would think, if i had any worthwhile plans, i would probably be making good on them already by this point, don't you think? But instead i'm drifting, trying to impose as little of a footprint as possible on the people that are generously providing for me.
And i would put on this intent expression and explain how i was pursuing a variety of different paths ranging from architectural internships to construction, all with the interest of solidifying my base knowledge of my chosen field. It was a pretty romantic and promising story, considering that it was all ********. I might have had an idea of what i wanted, but i was lightyears away from achieving any of it.

So when my aunt (who, i might add, i had met maybe half a dozen times in my entire life) asked me what i wanted to do with my summer, i replied with my prepared answer.

"My son works in construction; i'll give him a call -- would you want a job?" She said. "It would be hard work."

"I mean...that would be exactly the sort of thing i'm looking for." I responded, belying my excitement. I had heard this sort of offer too many times before from too many people to put any stock in it...but i underestimated familial ties.

15 minutes later i had accepted a job halfway across the country.

...in a state i had never visited (Virginia), living and working with a cousin i had never met, in a field i had never worked. I waved hello to Alice as i stumbled down the rabbit hole, then took a road trip with my aforementioned aunt and her husband across the United States. I have differences with some of my relatives, but they are, as my cousin and future boss would say, "good people." I hope they appreciate what that means to me.

About ten days later i was legitimately working concrete construction. Now, understand that the company i worked for exclusively promotes from within -- meaning that everyone starts as a rote laborer.

The first day i worked was hard. Really hard, actually, but manageable. The SECOND day i worked, well...

What you see on your right are called concrete piles. They are ~18" square columns that get driven (by a piledriver, hence the wrestling move name) waaaay into the ground. Where i was working, the last few feet of these piles that were poking out of the ground needed to be knocked down to the steel reinforcement rods (rebar) so that the ground slab to be poured atop them would have a stronger bond.

To do this it was necessary to chip off the concrete on the piles using what is known as a "chipping hammer." (Right -- it's a slightly smaller jackhammer, and for the same purpose). I feel that i need to make a few notes about this task.

1) Chipping hammers, with the bit, weight probably 50 to 60 pounds.
2) I am not ripped.
3) It was 110 degrees Farenheit. By comparison, where i live the weather forecasters make cracks about Hell, MI freezing over as early as September.


Eight hours later i was on the phone with my father.
"I'm not sure this was the right decision!" I despaired. But silently i made myself a promise. I would not quit this job while off the clock. If the work broke my spirit or my back, it would happen during the day, and not for lack of trying.

The next day, the temperature dropped 15 degrees. The day after that i transferred job sites to work with my cousin-boss on a new project as an engineer's aide.
"It's still going to be hard physical labor." I was assured. And it was, but after those resolve-breaking first few days my optimism couldn't be diminished. "It's not so bad," i would say. "We need to work you harder, then," my cousin would joke.

I appreciated working with the engineers considerably more than with the laborers (from an architectural standpoint), because i learned more about how construction works -- the engineers being more capable and willing to answer questions. Ten semesters of Architecture 314: Construction couldn't teach me what i learned in two weeks there. I want to be perfectly clear on this point though -- in those three days with the laborers i met some extraordinary people. I had resolved to see with my eyes in this new environment, and in such an alien terrain i saw things i didn't expect.

I don't know if he made it through middle school, if he committed any felonies, if he even had a home, or how he ended up working as a laborer, but i hold for (let's call him) Mr. Samuel more respect than i can muster for most of my current colleagues. Wherever you are, i wish you the best.

I spent three months aiding with the layout of 26 acres of foundation. I learned incredible volumes worth of experiential knowledge that no book can contain about construction and how it relates to my particular passion of architecture. But the lessons i took home with me at the end of the summer were of self motivation and the value of working outside your comfort zone. The view from the other side of the fence really gives some breathtaking perspective. If you ever have the opportunity to step across, i hope you take it.

You might hate it, but i hope you appreciate it.