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Brooke's avatar

Your funniest chapter. I laughed out loud a few times!

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Working Man's avatar

Yeah, those were pretty crazy days. All true.

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John Rowe's avatar

Your quote about the “fine” work reminded me of one particular foreman who was full of witticisms.

My two favorites (heartily shouted at full volume): “He does the work of three men: Larry, Curly and Moe!” and on those hungover mornings, “I slept like a baby - woke up every two hours crying!”

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Working Man's avatar

Yeah, I think you could fill a book with them. I’ve been meaning to sit down and try to remember as many as I can. Some are pretty vulgar, but those are the really good ones. Thanks for reading!

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David Galinsky's avatar

First; I'm on my third Ford truck. I drove to work for ten years with a bricklayer twenty years older than me. Very good mason and a good guy. At the end of the day I would throw my tools in the back of the truck, jump in and declare, "you're killing me Junior!" His reply was that "I'm only trying to lay one more brick than you."

"That's funny, I'm just trying to lay one more brick than you too," I replied. We had a reputation, only the good bricklayers would venture to work between us.

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Working Man's avatar

I love that story. I’ll remember it.

This was the late seventies, and the truck was probably ten years old. Back then, for some years, Fords weren’t as reliable as they are now.

Those stairs were pretty cool. Both eight feet wide and sweeping with a curve to the entry, they both began and ended at the same place. They were pretty grand. I wish I had paid more attention to how they followed their layout. We didn’t get many bricklayers on our jobs.

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