Thought of the Day 04.19.10

Have you ever driven past a road construction crew and noticed that most of them are standing around doing nothing? Embarrassing evidence of their laziness and the corruption of unions, right? Well, after laughing at them, did you ever ask yourself why this is such a universal occurrence?

I mean, I suppose it’s possible that virtually all constructions workers everywhere are just lazy. But did it ever occur to you that maybe there’s a fairly good reason they’re just standing around like that? I know it never occurred to me…at least not until I had the chance to help my friend tear out his concrete patio last weekend.

When I first arrived, I noticed four or five of my friends all just sort of standing around watching the guy on the jackhammer. So I asked what I should do, and my friend gave me one of the sledge hammers. He told me to swing it 5 or 7 times then take a break. Sure he was wrong, I swung it 10 times and couldn’t do it again. Then after a breather I did it 6 or 7 times. After another break, I did so again. And then I found myself standing around watching the jackhammer…for several minutes…breathing hard…just like my friends…and just like every construction worker I’d ever seen.

It was at that point I turned to my friend and said, “I’ll never make fun of construction guys again.” It sort of makes me wonder what other lacks of experience are allowing me to keep such foolish judgments.