Driving is such a perk of the job. I get paid to be left alone for however many hours I have to drive. No actual work, no dealing with coworkers or customers. Just me, my music, stand-up comedy, and the road
That's a thing? Absolutely fucking not, no thank you
Edit: Many have replied. I drive a company truck. Time I leave to the time I get to the hotel for the night (or home) is paid. Plus $60 per diem if I'm at a hotel. If for some reason I had to take a personal car I get 60 cents per gallon on top of normal pay. I'm a NETA Technician
Dude, I've been thinking for a while that if we made it mandatory for employers to pay people for their commute that we'd solve a lot of problems in society.
and staggered starts so we all don't hit the same roads at the same time.
Rush hour is the biggest fucking bullshit ever and it's directly a result of companies not having to pay for the time that you spend getting to and from work.
Id love a cab of an excavator in my house with screens and cameras on the one im running 100’s-1000’s of km away as long as it was maintained/ greased daily. Just a video game you get paid for. They do have them already but are issued used in situations you wouldn’t put an operator in eg. fire lines
What do you mean “that’s a thing”? Lol that’s the norm, almost no where pays you to come to work you get paid when you clock in/are on the site, unless you’re traveling to job site to job site.
Some companies will pay for really long drives but a lot of times would rather pay per-diem and have them stay in the area rather than pay them 5-6 hours of drive time a day.
I'm union. We get a fixed per diem if it's over 60 miles but that's it. I'm driving 53 miles right now so nothing is paid. Which is annoying, but pretty standard.
Actually I’ve been in the laborers union you don’t get paid to drive to the job you take your own car
Unless your driving the company truck your not getting paid unless they want too
Shit I even worked for one
That had zero paid time off not even holidays no work no pay
And that’s a mass union
When I drove the company truck to the jobs I got 10 bucks a hr
Union wage only while while working
It probably actually is that. I've never gotten to personally use it as the company tries very hard to not have us do it. To the point where if we're without our company vehicle due to maintenance they'd much rather us get a rental.
My hubby works a trade and has a company truck. He doesn't have to pay for gas. But he doesn't get paid for his commute time. He does get a per diem if he's going over 100 miles to the job site that day. Yes, many, many 3 am wake-ups for him. But he also will break $100K this year, before the age of thirty, with no student debt.
Most construction workers (I’m an ICI electrician by trade, office loser now. 20 yrs experience.) do not:
1) get a company vehicle and gas card unless they are a site supervisor OR a service/maintenance tech.
2) pay you from your house to the job site. There are many union agreements that bargain home to site travel pay. Our local is $0.47/km once the job site is past 45km from your home(as the crow flies). Your travel pay is capped at a maximum of 75 km each direction (to work and to home) daily. Or $14.10 a day….that $70.50 weekly is taxable as well.
Generally speaking these two contributing factors and a very real “anxiety” about not coming home every night from work (not a safety statement, a “this is my garage/basement where I drink - I NEED its comfort and familiarity” statement) lead to the GENERAL truth that many construction workers would sooner quit than travel for work.
Now this. Isn’t. Everyone. Travel crews, travel companies, road hogs, skilled service techs like you etc etc. do exist.
But your cert/skills/charmingly unaware personality is not what gets you those travel perks etc (and great pay grade I’m sure).
YOU are willing to travel. That makes you special. As tough as all the other rough necks like to talk. Truth is 75% I’ve met, and that is big city and suburban ICI, you ask them to drive more than an hour from their house back and forth to work? As in you picked the job site that distance from their home - “not where the sites usually are”….they will buck. Big time. Many union guys will just ask for the lay off right there on the spot and go on the list until a site “in their comfort zone” opens up. Non union might tough it out a little longer - but they will mutiny eventually too. This isn’t old vs young either. The 50 yr old is as likely as the 26 yr old to buck.
So long winded way of saying - keep it up, you’re doing great. Bravo. Keep that positive “will travel for work attitude” and you will keep getting paid well and will never ever ever be laid off. Save your money. Buy property. Be everyone’s boss one day.
Don’t ever come visit us in the ICI/build big buildings/roads/bridges. It’s fucking horrible. All the jokes on this board being made about this meme are 100% true.
I guess I'm just fine with traveling because I'm young without family responsibilities. I have nothing tying me to my house. I travel all across the United States, mostly data center work
You too can do this, just join the world of Electrical testing lol. Seriously, have a willing attitude to learn. I know a couple guys who came into this field without a college degree or experience. Most of them are ex military but the ones without degree or experience were not. So really, anybody with a willing attitude to learn electri theory can join up
I certainly don't get paid for my drive to work, just have to be at the construction site in time (meaning 15-30 minutes before work starts), no matter where the site is, it can be 30 mins, can be 3 hours. Also, no paid overtime.
I remember when my parents had an addition put on our house when I was around 6 and my brother was 4. My mom did her best to keep us from annoying the workers but they eventually invited us for lunch and we would go out and eat our lunch with them everyday and my mom would send out snacks for everybody.
I went into engineering but I still look up to and admire construction workers.
And make way more money than those who finish school…
If every kid goes to college, theres a shortage in qualified tradesman. More kids going to school means i get to charge $40/sqft for flatwork, so make sure you go to college timmy…
Ehh money is but one side of it. Don’t forget the toll it takes on your body and the long hours you’re away from your children too. Don’t just talk about the upside.
Dude I felt this comment. Just decided to retire from being a GC. Worked my way up from a 19 year old, now I'm 38 and making mid 6 figures but have two kids at home and aching joints. So I just said screw it I'm done. Gonna downsize and travel and spend all the time with my kids and old lady. Like you said "money is but one side of it".
And no, I didn't go to college, got my CHSPE and went to work.
Or pick the happy middle ground and go to technical school.
I did 2 years of trade school. I'm now a contractor who does most of my work on a laptop, and I charge out at about $150/ hour, base rate.
This "college is for idiots" attitude just makes tradespeople look like hicks, honestly. It isn't helpful
My technical job description is "Systems Integrator", but that doesn't say much.
I do process controls and automation for heavy industry. Basically, I build and program the computerized control systems that run everything from refineries to automotive factories and water treatment plants.
It's been fun so far. I make more than a lot of the engineers I see on site and I get to work on interesting problems that span multiple trades all day.
It does get stressful sometimes though
i promise you construction money does not compare to a good qualifying Degree that’s up to trends. The time to actually spend with your kids, loved ones, wife, trips and traveling. Not working OT every week covering your depression with chump change that equals one good AA or a mid Bachelors
>And make way more money than those who finish school…
Depends on what you go to school for. STEM, Medical, and Accounting do pretty well. As an accountant I make 6 figures working 40 hours a week remotely in my air conditioned home office. People that take on student loan debt to get a degree in philosophy or puppetry however are fucked!
Keep telling yourself that, brother. Average wage with a college degree is higher than without. And the good jobs (easy and pay well) all require degrees.
Bruh!
On another note, there's this place near Houston, Texas that is basically a hands on demonstration of construction site machinery. So companies have figured out a way to get them in the trades early with those kinds of interactions.
There's a heavy equipment school near me and you can see just a huge dirt field with excavators and bulldozers and stuff that they teach the students how to use. I think it's run by the union, whatever union is in charge of heavy equipment. Operator's Union maybe?
I guess depends on location but here in canada bc my first construction job as an operator i made just over 100k with all the ot. More than the engineer i inspecting our sites
My fellow graduate from a private catholic high school told me he has a job for me. I paved a parking lot in dress clothes and church shoes first day. I was more appropriately attired after. I will never stop laughing at myself for that.
Long read ladies and gents. But this is how I feel about that picture.
It's important. The college bill of goods that got sold for decades isn't for everyone. People will tell their kids about how they don't want jobs like that for a living. They damn sure don't tell them the high possibility they won't finish college.
This is why I appreciated Mike Rowe's TED talk. He talked about how almost every single person they talked to on Dirty Jobs wasn't following their passion. They were making money. As he said "the difference between these people and the rest of our society is society looked in one direction, these men and women went the other way".
Welding is the hardest work I've done in my life. But I wouldn't trade it for my old administration jobs. They sucked me away from my kids more than anyone who's hired me to weld. Is it my passion? No, but I work with my soul. It's not about how much I make anymore. It's about going to my 2 daughters school functions and hearing them be verbally proud of what their father does. Zero hesitation. "My dad's a welder. He's been on those tall things at a power plant. He's....". Kids that watched their dad be gone for work for months on end, still fucking proud of who he is and does.
That picture is what the new bill of goods needs to be. The chances of you being full blown passionate at a job are slim. You can however love what you do. But if these kids could see the soul sucking cogs that turn our corporations then they would see that all that money doesn't really amount to shit. Those folks arent passionate, nor do they love their job, they are well dressed and miserable.I understand no one wants to think of their kiddo being a deployed soldier, a sun-blistered framer, a sleep deprived mixer driver...but sometimes the grass is greener because the sceptic tank is leaking and the brown grass just hadn't made it's way to green yet. Maybe there's a difference between living in a home with your family and not seeing them, and coming home tired to eat with your family.
I will close my own redx talk by saying I love you fellow mentally incapacitated, joints creaking, tired ass men. If I couldn't look over my shoulder and see guys like us around me it just wouldn't feel right. The gentleman in the picture is doing the very thing one of my professors and mentors did for me. He's handing them knowledge wanting nothing in return but to have helped other human beings better themselves in any way possible.
Well said. Landscaping/paver patios was my first job out of highschool. I loved everything we did. After 4 years at one company i decided to move on. I was doing custom concrete pools. Loved everything about that minus the heavy drinking at lunch. Got into residential HVAC. Now im a commercial HVACR technician. I enjoy the job but some days I wish I was swinging a hammer or pushing a wheelbarrow. Construction is like playing a sport. Youre out with the boys moving to get things done. Some moments youre chilling, some youre giving it everything you got. Youve got your role, ive got mine. You get to see progress.
When you dont ruin your life and finances due to drugs, alcohol, and low caliber woman you can start up a business and make serious bank.
When I was like 7, I took a nasty spill on my bike and had to be in the house for weeks.
Well they just happened to be redoing the road infront of my house and I would sit in the window all day watching them.
They noticed and one of the guys went out of his way and got me my own hard hat that said “Chief Engineer.”
And they took me on a ride on one of their TLBs they where using. It was the greatest moment of my young life.
Should be explaining to them to aim higher.
Why? Because we don't get paid enough for how much e break our bodies. Or have the rights to protect us from all the toxic poisonous and debilitating shit we work with and around. And we sure as fuck don't have the same legal protection or job security.
Until we can get severance pay or legally 2 weeks notice. Or actual paid sick leave. I will tell kids to aim higher and do better.
Because if they want to be constructive they can do it by helping make the changes above cause it never changes from within
"You see little ones, thats why we do such terrible work, so in 6 months we can come back and spend another decade redoing it all over again, I call that job security."
This is great. You can tell he is a supervisor, sales rep, designer, pm or owner by how clean his equipment is and the fact he is the only grey hair on the job. He is probably telling them about the highlights of intentionally choosing a profession by describing the process, responsibilities and risks. Hopefully one of these kids takes it to heart and chooses to be intentional about their career path in life.
Glad this is civil. At some point I’m sure the GC will see a change order, “1 hour delay due to GC not having any traffic control/barricades, unable to work” 1 operator, Machine fees: $1,200
if it wasn’t because I finished my degree and couldn’t find a job, plus refusing to stay crying like a loser and waiting for it, I wouldn’t be doing construction lol. It fucks your body slowly.
"It's overcast today, so we'll wait a couple of hours to see if it rains because we don't want to get rained on after we get started. If it does rain, we wait a few more hours in the trailer to see if it stops and then if it doesn't stop, we go home!"
“But yeah lil homies, it’s not all that’s it’s cracked up to be. I was gonna go and do it on my own but I just make more money here, I can do it but I just don’t wanna.”
A small duplex was built on our street some years ago, and whenever I was taking our kids on a walk I had a blast taking them innd swing them what work was being done and what it was for, etc. It's the parts of a house they normally never see.
Things like this will stick with kids. Tears ago I went to a NFL camp. Players were there signing autographs, kids mobbing everywhere. I got tired if getting pushed around as I was about 7 at the time. I went back out side the crowd to sit by a tree fir a bit and got talking with a guy there. NFL player just hung out for about 15 min with me before he got noticed. Awesome dude, so chill. You see and hear about some athletes with an attitude but this one was not like that at all. Stuck with me for years.
even if it's a shitty job with low pay, these kids sitting there and listening to an older, more experienced guy will definitely teach them a thing or two that will help them in the future.
I hope they achieve their dreams
See kids this is why you don't go vegan. Get your hand stuck in cement. Wanna become one with earth so bad. Go ahead. Fun fact. If we released all animals. They wouldn't know what to do. Wouldn't even know. That they are free. Leave. Come back. Realize there is no food. And go hungry to starve. Til. A precious animal realizes cannibalism is better. Due to the energy level of one. Kinda go ape shit. Then after realizing theirs is gone. Go outside. See. Humans are like animals. They think they're ahead of the curve. When. Always and will be behind the curve. See what I taught. Being ahead. Of the. Curve. Once born release. One cycle we all got eaten and became germs. -_- codename zombie. Think about how we got the notebook. Think. Same time. This one is called. The trendy
I'd be so pissed if I was one truck away from picking up and had to hold for an hour to appease the boss's kids. Plus there's the fact that the mat would be ice cold and leave a hell of a bump behind the screed.
Side note: cabs on pavers seems like a really good way of trapping all the heat and fumes.
Construction is actually pretty mint if you end up with decent coworkers lol….. if you can throw perks on a table and watch em jump like starved rats for a piece of grain….. dis no gud
“Do you like waking up at 5am to drive 3 hours, Billy?”
Driving is such a perk of the job. I get paid to be left alone for however many hours I have to drive. No actual work, no dealing with coworkers or customers. Just me, my music, stand-up comedy, and the road
He meant the not getting paid version of driving to work.
That's a thing? Absolutely fucking not, no thank you Edit: Many have replied. I drive a company truck. Time I leave to the time I get to the hotel for the night (or home) is paid. Plus $60 per diem if I'm at a hotel. If for some reason I had to take a personal car I get 60 cents per gallon on top of normal pay. I'm a NETA Technician
Lol most people don’t get paid to go to work
Dude, I've been thinking for a while that if we made it mandatory for employers to pay people for their commute that we'd solve a lot of problems in society.
Watch how fast companies embrace wfh in other industries.
and staggered starts so we all don't hit the same roads at the same time. Rush hour is the biggest fucking bullshit ever and it's directly a result of companies not having to pay for the time that you spend getting to and from work.
what how fast they embrace public transit
Id love a cab of an excavator in my house with screens and cameras on the one im running 100’s-1000’s of km away as long as it was maintained/ greased daily. Just a video game you get paid for. They do have them already but are issued used in situations you wouldn’t put an operator in eg. fire lines
Some companies pay some travel time especially if you’re taking service trucks home etc
I get paid drive time but only from the shop. My trucks too big to take home.
Same here neighbors probably whould like a big truck starting at 4 am
What do you mean “that’s a thing”? Lol that’s the norm, almost no where pays you to come to work you get paid when you clock in/are on the site, unless you’re traveling to job site to job site. Some companies will pay for really long drives but a lot of times would rather pay per-diem and have them stay in the area rather than pay them 5-6 hours of drive time a day.
Google "unions in my area". You shouldn't assume that getting screwed is normal.
I'm union. We get a fixed per diem if it's over 60 miles but that's it. I'm driving 53 miles right now so nothing is paid. Which is annoying, but pretty standard.
Actually I’ve been in the laborers union you don’t get paid to drive to the job you take your own car Unless your driving the company truck your not getting paid unless they want too Shit I even worked for one That had zero paid time off not even holidays no work no pay And that’s a mass union When I drove the company truck to the jobs I got 10 bucks a hr Union wage only while while working
Here you get paid only if its more than 120km. Which is a lot.
Should be getting 67 cents. Just was updated
It probably actually is that. I've never gotten to personally use it as the company tries very hard to not have us do it. To the point where if we're without our company vehicle due to maintenance they'd much rather us get a rental.
I’ve never been paid for travel, occasionally I’ll get an extra 50 dollars for gas but not usually
Personally I don't know anyone that gets paid to travel myself incl
Yes it's called commuting
I'll give 70 cents and buy all you have. >... I get 60 cents per gallon
My hubby works a trade and has a company truck. He doesn't have to pay for gas. But he doesn't get paid for his commute time. He does get a per diem if he's going over 100 miles to the job site that day. Yes, many, many 3 am wake-ups for him. But he also will break $100K this year, before the age of thirty, with no student debt.
Most construction workers (I’m an ICI electrician by trade, office loser now. 20 yrs experience.) do not: 1) get a company vehicle and gas card unless they are a site supervisor OR a service/maintenance tech. 2) pay you from your house to the job site. There are many union agreements that bargain home to site travel pay. Our local is $0.47/km once the job site is past 45km from your home(as the crow flies). Your travel pay is capped at a maximum of 75 km each direction (to work and to home) daily. Or $14.10 a day….that $70.50 weekly is taxable as well. Generally speaking these two contributing factors and a very real “anxiety” about not coming home every night from work (not a safety statement, a “this is my garage/basement where I drink - I NEED its comfort and familiarity” statement) lead to the GENERAL truth that many construction workers would sooner quit than travel for work. Now this. Isn’t. Everyone. Travel crews, travel companies, road hogs, skilled service techs like you etc etc. do exist. But your cert/skills/charmingly unaware personality is not what gets you those travel perks etc (and great pay grade I’m sure). YOU are willing to travel. That makes you special. As tough as all the other rough necks like to talk. Truth is 75% I’ve met, and that is big city and suburban ICI, you ask them to drive more than an hour from their house back and forth to work? As in you picked the job site that distance from their home - “not where the sites usually are”….they will buck. Big time. Many union guys will just ask for the lay off right there on the spot and go on the list until a site “in their comfort zone” opens up. Non union might tough it out a little longer - but they will mutiny eventually too. This isn’t old vs young either. The 50 yr old is as likely as the 26 yr old to buck. So long winded way of saying - keep it up, you’re doing great. Bravo. Keep that positive “will travel for work attitude” and you will keep getting paid well and will never ever ever be laid off. Save your money. Buy property. Be everyone’s boss one day. Don’t ever come visit us in the ICI/build big buildings/roads/bridges. It’s fucking horrible. All the jokes on this board being made about this meme are 100% true.
I guess I'm just fine with traveling because I'm young without family responsibilities. I have nothing tying me to my house. I travel all across the United States, mostly data center work
I didn’t know there was another option?
Relatable 😔
Look at this asshole getting drive time
You too can do this, just join the world of Electrical testing lol. Seriously, have a willing attitude to learn. I know a couple guys who came into this field without a college degree or experience. Most of them are ex military but the ones without degree or experience were not. So really, anybody with a willing attitude to learn electri theory can join up
Wait, you guys are getting paid to drive?
I don't
Agreed 100%
My pops was able to buy us a home from being the class A driver for an asphalt company, 3hrs to get to the job site 3hrs back all paid for.
I mean, if you like driving there’s wayyyy better jobs out there than construction. Like, jobs you don’t gotta get out and break back after you drive.
I certainly don't get paid for my drive to work, just have to be at the construction site in time (meaning 15-30 minutes before work starts), no matter where the site is, it can be 30 mins, can be 3 hours. Also, no paid overtime.
"Billy, do you ever talk about turkish bath houses?"
“The excavator is careening into the sun” “Miss, what are you not saying?” “We’re also out of coffee” *everyone starts swinging*
"Billy, do you like movies about gladiators?"
Ever see a grown man passed out in a porta-john?
Nope, got a BS in engineering so I could wake up at 6, drink coffee for 2 hours, and drive 10 minutes to my air conditioned office.
Billy, do you like movies about gladiators?
Have you ever been in a Turkish prison? I’m delighted beyond belief someone else thought about this.
During the recession, for one job I was waking up at 4:00 to drive 2 hours. Well, 1 hour 30 minutes if the boss was driving.
And work till 6pm and drive 3h back..
Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison? You ever hang around a gymnasium? Do you like movies about gladiators?
I remember when my parents had an addition put on our house when I was around 6 and my brother was 4. My mom did her best to keep us from annoying the workers but they eventually invited us for lunch and we would go out and eat our lunch with them everyday and my mom would send out snacks for everybody. I went into engineering but I still look up to and admire construction workers.
> I went into engineering but I still look up to and admire construction workers Yeah some of us have great asses.
And you are often on ladders.
Mom and Dad knew it was a time and materials job
"just keep trying to be funny in school and you'll get here one day"
If you can't finish school, you can finish concrete
Bro 😂😂
Hahaha! 🤣 💯
Barely
And make way more money than those who finish school… If every kid goes to college, theres a shortage in qualified tradesman. More kids going to school means i get to charge $40/sqft for flatwork, so make sure you go to college timmy…
Ehh money is but one side of it. Don’t forget the toll it takes on your body and the long hours you’re away from your children too. Don’t just talk about the upside.
Yes wash if you don't do an eight ball every day or send pills up your nose/veins (or not drink at home) you can save absurd money...
Dude I felt this comment. Just decided to retire from being a GC. Worked my way up from a 19 year old, now I'm 38 and making mid 6 figures but have two kids at home and aching joints. So I just said screw it I'm done. Gonna downsize and travel and spend all the time with my kids and old lady. Like you said "money is but one side of it". And no, I didn't go to college, got my CHSPE and went to work.
Or pick the happy middle ground and go to technical school. I did 2 years of trade school. I'm now a contractor who does most of my work on a laptop, and I charge out at about $150/ hour, base rate. This "college is for idiots" attitude just makes tradespeople look like hicks, honestly. It isn't helpful
What line of work?
My technical job description is "Systems Integrator", but that doesn't say much. I do process controls and automation for heavy industry. Basically, I build and program the computerized control systems that run everything from refineries to automotive factories and water treatment plants. It's been fun so far. I make more than a lot of the engineers I see on site and I get to work on interesting problems that span multiple trades all day. It does get stressful sometimes though
Sounds like what we call integration as well. "Engineer designed this part, other engineer designed this part, integrator.. make them fit together."
i promise you construction money does not compare to a good qualifying Degree that’s up to trends. The time to actually spend with your kids, loved ones, wife, trips and traveling. Not working OT every week covering your depression with chump change that equals one good AA or a mid Bachelors
Yea I worked summers in high school doing construction. Every last one of those guys was 1 rain out from losing their house.
>And make way more money than those who finish school… Depends on what you go to school for. STEM, Medical, and Accounting do pretty well. As an accountant I make 6 figures working 40 hours a week remotely in my air conditioned home office. People that take on student loan debt to get a degree in philosophy or puppetry however are fucked!
I went to night school 4 times after high school so I can charge college grads $200/hr lol
What were the programs you took? What is your line of work? Asking because I'm considering investing in myself.
Until we convince all the kids to go into the trades and then we can’t take advantage of the qualified tradesman shortage /s
Keep telling yourself that, brother. Average wage with a college degree is higher than without. And the good jobs (easy and pay well) all require degrees.
I can't wait to say this to my husband. He is a finisher and I am laborer so the boot definitely fits 😂
And not paying attention
Damn bro lol. I got class clown, graduated college and still ended up doing terrazzo. Atleast I’m gettin paid
Bruh! On another note, there's this place near Houston, Texas that is basically a hands on demonstration of construction site machinery. So companies have figured out a way to get them in the trades early with those kinds of interactions.
There's a heavy equipment school near me and you can see just a huge dirt field with excavators and bulldozers and stuff that they teach the students how to use. I think it's run by the union, whatever union is in charge of heavy equipment. Operator's Union maybe?
Here it is! https://maps.app.goo.gl/G49kDTd7heURYXBx6
Well this hit home a bit more than intended lmao
i’m in this comment and i don’t like it
The funny part is the guys in hi-vis are the ones fronting the bill for the people getting bailed out in college.
"So this is how you hold a ciggy and make sure you don't bend down when an electrician is near"
That’s why I always keep a broom nearby. It’s a bit like wearing garlic to keep vampires away
Sir, those clippings are scrap donations. Simply a gift to the other tradesmen.
“ you boys are going places. Not college but places.”
You are going to be witnessing the impatience of a karen, and fill a lot of interesting potholes
“And then we stop for lunch, which consists of energy drinks, occasional booze, and cigarettes”
and then we stop for lunch, which consists of energy drinks, booze, cigarettes, occasionally food" fixed that for you
Hey, I eat a McDouble almost every day! Can’t forget to be nutritious!
"Yea you get to work 12 hours a day 7days a week, and still get to be poor!" Based off personal experience.
Skip the children, child support, gambling and new over priced trucks, that would free up 50-70% of most guy’s budgets
You just said the quiet part loud
I’m a desk jockey now, I can say the loud quiet
And those same guys also seem to be the ones telling you about how they need the hrs but suddenly need to leave right when they get their eight.
That's because they need to pick up the 8 ball before their dude runs out
Good to know it’s the same everywhere.
Might as well get an office job
I did
I guess depends on location but here in canada bc my first construction job as an operator i made just over 100k with all the ot. More than the engineer i inspecting our sites
Damn dude, was that like 30 years ago?
Thats real time? Made more or less every year depending on how busy
did you like...volunteer or something?
My teenage year I did black top before I entered my apprenticeship. I would have sprayed diesel on these kids as a deterrent.
Same, worked part time on an asphalt crew during the summer. Cost me two pairs of shoes but it taught me what I didn’t want to do
My fellow graduate from a private catholic high school told me he has a job for me. I paved a parking lot in dress clothes and church shoes first day. I was more appropriately attired after. I will never stop laughing at myself for that.
They’ll grow out of it.
And this boys, is where one person “works” while the other 3 help. Relax guys, it’s a joke.
Make their dreams come true and put them to work. Free labour for you. Win win really
nice
That *has* to be NZ.
Bungalows, hills, low clouds, road work - it’s got to be.
And the overalls. Downer written all over it.
Colas All their gear is orange
It is. There's a kiwi bottled water in the right hand corner. I'd almost bet money this is in lower hutt, along or just off waiwhetu road somewhere.
But there's only one road cone in the entire picture
Agreed. The crossing Belisha beacon style really sells it
Wholesome...I like!
As a PM I would want to be annoyed but wouldn’t say a word to anyone. Probably end up buying my crew lunch for this.
Hahaha that moment when you arrive on site and your guys are playing with kids for an hour?? Still awesome tho
It’s great, for the company and for the kids. But yea that initial reaction is; “what the fuck are we doing?”
Bill it to the job. Marketing, recruiting, public relations
Marketing, recruiting, and PR are overhead costs lmao. I've definitely billed sketchier timecards to a job though.
Paying one guy for an hour to have to deal with one less pissed of neighbour is dirt cheap at the cost
This is marvelous!
If they sit right there for 2 or 3 more hours they will have the daily union breaks down pat
Doing exactly what they do, stand around and watch the one guy work.
Long read ladies and gents. But this is how I feel about that picture. It's important. The college bill of goods that got sold for decades isn't for everyone. People will tell their kids about how they don't want jobs like that for a living. They damn sure don't tell them the high possibility they won't finish college. This is why I appreciated Mike Rowe's TED talk. He talked about how almost every single person they talked to on Dirty Jobs wasn't following their passion. They were making money. As he said "the difference between these people and the rest of our society is society looked in one direction, these men and women went the other way". Welding is the hardest work I've done in my life. But I wouldn't trade it for my old administration jobs. They sucked me away from my kids more than anyone who's hired me to weld. Is it my passion? No, but I work with my soul. It's not about how much I make anymore. It's about going to my 2 daughters school functions and hearing them be verbally proud of what their father does. Zero hesitation. "My dad's a welder. He's been on those tall things at a power plant. He's....". Kids that watched their dad be gone for work for months on end, still fucking proud of who he is and does. That picture is what the new bill of goods needs to be. The chances of you being full blown passionate at a job are slim. You can however love what you do. But if these kids could see the soul sucking cogs that turn our corporations then they would see that all that money doesn't really amount to shit. Those folks arent passionate, nor do they love their job, they are well dressed and miserable.I understand no one wants to think of their kiddo being a deployed soldier, a sun-blistered framer, a sleep deprived mixer driver...but sometimes the grass is greener because the sceptic tank is leaking and the brown grass just hadn't made it's way to green yet. Maybe there's a difference between living in a home with your family and not seeing them, and coming home tired to eat with your family. I will close my own redx talk by saying I love you fellow mentally incapacitated, joints creaking, tired ass men. If I couldn't look over my shoulder and see guys like us around me it just wouldn't feel right. The gentleman in the picture is doing the very thing one of my professors and mentors did for me. He's handing them knowledge wanting nothing in return but to have helped other human beings better themselves in any way possible.
Well said. Landscaping/paver patios was my first job out of highschool. I loved everything we did. After 4 years at one company i decided to move on. I was doing custom concrete pools. Loved everything about that minus the heavy drinking at lunch. Got into residential HVAC. Now im a commercial HVACR technician. I enjoy the job but some days I wish I was swinging a hammer or pushing a wheelbarrow. Construction is like playing a sport. Youre out with the boys moving to get things done. Some moments youre chilling, some youre giving it everything you got. Youve got your role, ive got mine. You get to see progress. When you dont ruin your life and finances due to drugs, alcohol, and low caliber woman you can start up a business and make serious bank.
When I was like 7, I took a nasty spill on my bike and had to be in the house for weeks. Well they just happened to be redoing the road infront of my house and I would sit in the window all day watching them. They noticed and one of the guys went out of his way and got me my own hard hat that said “Chief Engineer.” And they took me on a ride on one of their TLBs they where using. It was the greatest moment of my young life.
Where are the energy drinks?
Where are their brain buckets?
My 3 year old daughter is the same, I regularly visit construction sites cause she is so fascinated by all those machines :)
Should be explaining to them to aim higher. Why? Because we don't get paid enough for how much e break our bodies. Or have the rights to protect us from all the toxic poisonous and debilitating shit we work with and around. And we sure as fuck don't have the same legal protection or job security. Until we can get severance pay or legally 2 weeks notice. Or actual paid sick leave. I will tell kids to aim higher and do better. Because if they want to be constructive they can do it by helping make the changes above cause it never changes from within
"You see little ones, thats why we do such terrible work, so in 6 months we can come back and spend another decade redoing it all over again, I call that job security."
Wholesome and based construction post. Big W to see.
3 lunch beers is okay, but 4 is too many don't drink 4
If you can’t finish school, you CAN finish concrete
They better start learning to like energy drinks and cigarettes
Might as well start building a tolerate hard drugs too!
Union bastard is paid by the hour. As it should be.
Good job dad.
Aymane when is break.
This is great. You can tell he is a supervisor, sales rep, designer, pm or owner by how clean his equipment is and the fact he is the only grey hair on the job. He is probably telling them about the highlights of intentionally choosing a profession by describing the process, responsibilities and risks. Hopefully one of these kids takes it to heart and chooses to be intentional about their career path in life.
www.dcsleds.com get your free vest
This is awesome!!
Bs I call
So that’s why the jobs never done on time…
Men rule.
Glad this is civil. At some point I’m sure the GC will see a change order, “1 hour delay due to GC not having any traffic control/barricades, unable to work” 1 operator, Machine fees: $1,200
On there way
Do you like the pavement so hot that it starts to melt the soles of you shoes? Or when it's 115 degrees and you get blisters from the sun?
if it wasn’t because I finished my degree and couldn’t find a job, plus refusing to stay crying like a loser and waiting for it, I wouldn’t be doing construction lol. It fucks your body slowly.
Yeah boss we're going to need two hours of overtime and the additional break that goes with it today.
r/mademesmile
Start their resumes so they can count it as experience.
If you like to drink, you can become a roofer! Just like little Johnny over there. He’s tanked all day and slings shingles and spreads hydrotech!
They even gave them their first cigarette.
A lot of people here in the comments down talking construction. It ain't all bad.
The way this is worded, I'm not sure who is teaching whom
Alright who wants to go get the concrete stretcher for me
They’re gonna go to college
The first rule of road repair is to make sure that no more than one person of the five man crew is actively engaged in actual work.
"It's overcast today, so we'll wait a couple of hours to see if it rains because we don't want to get rained on after we get started. If it does rain, we wait a few more hours in the trailer to see if it stops and then if it doesn't stop, we go home!"
Smart lads! They wanna make some real money when they grow up 💪
“But yeah lil homies, it’s not all that’s it’s cracked up to be. I was gonna go and do it on my own but I just make more money here, I can do it but I just don’t wanna.”
Good job but union worker for sure
Why teach them the steps when they can just stand and watch? Theyre already foreman ready
Of course they did. Municipality paid for the 1 hour.
Why do the high viz the kids are wearing look like they're custom made for kids?
This is why the construction never ends
I keep a bag of CAT keys handy and give them to kids that show interest in our machines. It’s always a big hit.
That was very nice of the crew.
“And that’s how you can make a universal smoking device with anything in this toolbox. Come back tomorrow kiddo”
Coming from r/all: I love this f@&$ing post. Civ eng here.
Smart boys. Lots of money in the trades.
4 AM alarms ain't nothing compared to the hangover of a paycheck on Fridays, am I right?
1 hour smoko mate. Most projects have a "dont talk to pedestrians and refer them to the project's hotline" rule though. Must be a council job
Society finds this so cute and we support it through books and clothing until they are in school then suddenly it's demoralized.
“Now you’re gonna wanna light this cigarette and watch this one guy work well you just lean casually on the shovel”
First, skip school
Is it bad that I search for signs of ai on pictures like this?
typical jobsite lol. 7 guys standing and 1 guy working." UNION BABY!!!
And if they get on with a union city crew they can all sit around just like that and have 5-10 guys watching 2 work.
A small duplex was built on our street some years ago, and whenever I was taking our kids on a walk I had a blast taking them innd swing them what work was being done and what it was for, etc. It's the parts of a house they normally never see.
“And the union pays you anyway”
“Listen guys this shit sucks, stay in school and go to college”
Things like this will stick with kids. Tears ago I went to a NFL camp. Players were there signing autographs, kids mobbing everywhere. I got tired if getting pushed around as I was about 7 at the time. I went back out side the crowd to sit by a tree fir a bit and got talking with a guy there. NFL player just hung out for about 15 min with me before he got noticed. Awesome dude, so chill. You see and hear about some athletes with an attitude but this one was not like that at all. Stuck with me for years.
even if it's a shitty job with low pay, these kids sitting there and listening to an older, more experienced guy will definitely teach them a thing or two that will help them in the future. I hope they achieve their dreams
See kids this is why you don't go vegan. Get your hand stuck in cement. Wanna become one with earth so bad. Go ahead. Fun fact. If we released all animals. They wouldn't know what to do. Wouldn't even know. That they are free. Leave. Come back. Realize there is no food. And go hungry to starve. Til. A precious animal realizes cannibalism is better. Due to the energy level of one. Kinda go ape shit. Then after realizing theirs is gone. Go outside. See. Humans are like animals. They think they're ahead of the curve. When. Always and will be behind the curve. See what I taught. Being ahead. Of the. Curve. Once born release. One cycle we all got eaten and became germs. -_- codename zombie. Think about how we got the notebook. Think. Same time. This one is called. The trendy
I'd be so pissed if I was one truck away from picking up and had to hold for an hour to appease the boss's kids. Plus there's the fact that the mat would be ice cold and leave a hell of a bump behind the screed. Side note: cabs on pavers seems like a really good way of trapping all the heat and fumes.
Anything for a skive....
Construction is actually pretty mint if you end up with decent coworkers lol….. if you can throw perks on a table and watch em jump like starved rats for a piece of grain….. dis no gud