Life Lessons from my new job

When you think philosophy, great wisdom, and deep understanding of life, what do you see yourself doing?  I'm sure most of you would picture yourself sitting at the feet of a wizened old monk, soaking in the 1,000 year old nuggets of spiritual wisdom falling from his sun-baked lips?  Or maybe you see yourself taking a 3 day trek into the Amazon jungle to converse with the native, ponder life, and maybe lick a few of those toads, (you know, for science).
Well, I bet the last place you would imagine finding the meaning of life is while pouring a concrete garage pad, or cutting plywood pieces to make a mold for someone's retaining wall.  Grasshopper, let me enlighten you.
PRELUDE
Over this last year, we have been struggling to pay bills, and of course, the banks were no help.  Even though we don't have much debt, it's all very short term, and needs to be rolled into a proper mortgage.  Unfortunately, we don't have a "standard" home, and it's tough to get a mortgage on a mobile home.  It didn't help that my credit rating has taken a hit, because of some "interesting times" (as the Chinese proverb would call it) earlier this year.  The only option I have to improve my credit rating is to pay all of my bills fully, on time, and wait for it to go up.  Since we have absolutely no savings, I decided that I needed to work a part-time job.  We needed to have a couple thousand dollars just stashed away.  I had a minimum wage job for a couple of months, before I decided that my time was worth more than $11/hr.  It occurred to me that with the Great Alberta Flood only a few months behind us, there would be a need for laborers to clean up the many thousands of destroyed homes and businesses, and I was correct!  Not only that, but the construction trades have been exploding with work, and are desperate for workers.  So, I answered an ad on Kijiji, and literally, the next day, I was at work!
As a farmer, I have some limited experience with construction materials, especially wood.  I've use concrete and plaster for some projects, so I figured I would do ok.  The company I've worked for for 3 days does "form work, and flat work", which is construction-speak for walls, and floors.

LESSON 1 - SHOW UP
When I responded to the ad, the foreman emailed me an address and a time.  That's it.  So, at 8 am, I arrived at the address, and found a guy in a Bobcat, and immediately he directed me to work raking gravel.  We worked for about 12 hours that day, and during the course of the day, I learned that the foreman had asked his co-worker "Did Adam show up?  Was he on time?  Does he have a car?"  When he learned the answers, he was AMAZED, and I was amazed that he was amazed.  Why would it be amazing that I showed up?
Anyone who has/does work in the trades already knows the answer, but for the rest of you, allow me to give you enlightenment.  Unlike in the office world, construction workers and laborers are notoriously unreliable.  Men routinely fail to report for work, and don't bother calling, or giving a reason.  Just yesterday, my co-worker told me "We got a new guy starting today", and sure enough, he did NOT show up.  We found out later, that he was in some sort of legal trouble, and I found the entire situation to be quite amusing.  I just couldn't believe that someone would just...not be there when there was $23/hr waiting for them.

LESSON 2 - BE READY
My experience with concrete before this week consisted of filling some post-holes, and plastering a ferro-cement water tank.  When I was 18, I helped build a sidewalk.  So, in other words, pretty much nothing.  Despite that, when I arrived at the site, I had every hand tool I owned, steel-toed boots, hard hat, and a huge lunch.  After 1/2 hr, I was loaning tools to the two experienced guys, who had left some important items at another site.  It was immensely satisfying to say "Oh, I've got one of those, let me get it for you!".
Here's the bald truth: I had run out and purchased a bunch of these tools the day before, just in case.  I had never worn a hard hat, nor used a chalk-line.  My boots were brand new, and my tool-belt fresh off the shelf.  Despite that, when I stepped out, I looked ready, and I felt ready.  No one had to tell me to wear proper gear, or bring proper tools.

LESSON 3 - DO SOMETHING, EVEN IF IT'S WRONG
Yes, grasshopper, this is the trickiest step.  There is a saying in Swahili, "It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission".  When I showed up, I was so green, you could have used me as the background of a new Star Wars movie.  I was aware of some basic facts, like, concrete is hard, nails go pointy-end down, don't hammer your thumb, etc, but there are all kinds of things I was completely ignorant of, and more than once I felt like a complete numbskull.  None the less, I watched intently every single time the experienced guys did anything at all.  When there was any kind of task that looked like it needed to be done, I jumped in.  A couple times the foreman had to say "No, it's ok, I'll do that", which is a polite way of saying "You're going to screw it up, dummy." I still jumped in, each time.  Eventually, they trusted me with some tasks that were more advanced, like hand-floating the concrete, vibrating, and cutting plywood forms.
The second day, the boss left me on my own, with instructions to strip some wood off the concrete on a house basement.  It was very physical work, and I was already tired from the day before.  I accidentally chipped a small piece off of a driveway in my efforts to dislodge a stubborn piece of rebar.  Rather than hide it, I just said, "Yeah, that was me."  The site foreman made an angry face, shook his head, but...that was it.  I offered to repair it (right, with my sooper skillz), and apologized, but there wasn't really anything else to be done.  I owned my mistake, and offered to make it right.  Take that!

SUMMARY
Lesson 1 - I cannot emphasize how important this is.  When a promise exits your lips, such as "I will be there at 8 am", your physical body had better be there at 8 am, or better yet, 7:50!  Your reputation in this world is more valuable than your skills.  Anyone who has ever called a plumber will agree, a man who keeps his word is pretty rare.  If you can't make it, CALL!  Give an alternate time, and then be early for the next week.  You could be the most skilled concrete-man in the world, able to hand float a statue of Michelangelo, or power-trowel a floor using only one hand, but if you are unreliable, then you are useless.  Simple as that.
SHOW UP

Lesson 2 - Did you know that Youtube has 18 videos showing you how to replace the brake pads on a late model Toyota Corolla? There are probably 600 videos on basic construction techniques, like "How to hammer a piece of wood to another piece of wood, using a large metal object with a flat spot, commonly called a 'hammer'."  If I hadn't been at least partially aware of basic construction techniques and terminology, I probably would have been completely useless, instead of just partially useless.  I further "cemented" (see what I did there?) my usefulness by having all kinds of inexpensive, yet very handy tools, like a hammer, belt, and putting them into action when they were needed.
BE READY

Lesson 3 - On day 1, the foreman of our small, ragtag team had a little job on the side.  Nothing big, just pouring 2,000 square feet of concrete.  Did I mention that we had already worked a full day?  Right.  Every single task that I was asked to do was completely new to me.  The foreman kept a steady stream of commands going, "Lift the rebar, tap the edges, spray the concrete, hammer this peg down, get me a sandwich!" And I was literally tripping over my boots to keep up, at least at first.  After the second hour, I was doing all of the above, without being asked.  When I saw a task, I tried to do it.  The two guys I worked with seemed very impressed, not with my sooper skillz, but with the fact that I DID something, even if it was fairly useless.  We all knew that they could have done 95% of the work without me, but that 5% made a difference.  Concrete is an unforgiving master, caring not for your schedule.  When it hardens, it cannot be "unhardened".  I allowed these guys to concentrate on the skilled tasks, while I handled the dummy work.  We got the job done, and I earned a crisp plastic $100 bill.  Yeah, we have plastic money here in Canada.  It has a little window in it too, you can see through it.
DO SOMETHING

Is this a complete list?  No.  You also need to have an aptitude for learning, a humble attitude, the ability to both lead and follow, and it doesn't hurt to be in good physical shape.  This is just a few lessons from my first week working a demanding job