WHAT IS IT WITH SOME PEOPLE?????????
Have been rocking a house for about three weeks. (8500 sq ft., cathedral, radius walls, drywall art, etc.) It does seem like a long time though. I am the senior man on the crew and the only one that speaks english. On a side note the six other guys that work with me are from the south, far south and they are the hardest working guys and my good friends. And they are all legal. Anyways the h o ‘s wife stopped by at lunch time and we had the grill going (outside) and the apprentice was grilling some carne asada. The lady comes in screaming and hollering that this is an upscale neighborhood and the houses around here cost more than any three of us put together could afford in our lifetimes. Then she got on her phone and called the G C and started using all these racial slurs about me and my crew. (I’m not going to say what she said , so you will have to use your imagination) Well shure enough the G C came over as fast as he could and pulled me to the side with her and played the tough guy roll. The freakin grill was behind the dumpster blocked from view on the sides by our trucks and from the back by the house. It was there from the framers who left it for us. Forgot to mention that. So he says to me tell your wet—ks that the grill goes into the dumpster now and there is to be no more cooking on the job. So me being a smart a$$ says ok we will throw the grill in the dumpster right now with the hot coals still burning. I yell in spanish for the guys to throw it away and he flipped out and told me to get the f–k off his job. So I put my tools away and so did the other guys and we started to leave. He yells to the other guys that if they dont keep working he will have them deported. Two of my guys walk up to him and show their green cadrs and tell hime in spanish something about his mother sleeps with goats and dogs and we all leave. As I just get home my boss calls me, calm as can be and asks what happened. Told him what happened and he told me to meet him at the job the next day. So we all meet , the HO’s, theGC, my boss and me. Everything got straitened out with alot of a$$ kissingand the HO’s left. The GC turns to me and says it was all a joke and if I would have waited he would have explained that to me.(I guess thats part of his job) I look at my boss and he gave the ok and Ilet loose. I asked him who the hell he was to try and scare my legal guys with deportation and to call them names. He started stuttering and tearing up and asked me if I could get the guys back and finish the job. I said it would cost him. So today we finished and I got to stay with the tapers and get started with them. Cant wait to see her face when it’s me and five other southerners doing the taping. I’ll let you know if anything else happens.
By the way we still have the grill and use almost everyday just in spite.
Oh if this has happened to you guys I’d love to here about it.
And we should have pooped in the bath tubs. Some of you may get that saying.” All drywallers do that.”
As far as permission for using the grill goes: it was left by the framers and I asked my boss if we could use it. I am sure no one could have ever thought anything like this would’ve happened.I’ll try to post some pics of the work we did with the drywall art. Lots of layering and beads. The tapers are just about done still have to sand and do touch-ups. Would’nt want any call backs on this one now.
And as far as crapping in a bathtub goes I’ve never done it only in a bucket of compound to get even with a taper for filling my pouches w/ durabond. He deserved it but thats another story.
Edited 4/5/2006 10:22 pm ET by dirtysanchez
Edited 4/6/2006 9:07 pm ET by dirtysanchez
Replies
Try it, it's fun.
View Image
Speak the truth, or make your peace some other way.
Edited 4/5/2006 10:22 pm ET by dustinf
You da man!
ROAR! That is so funny.
But ya know, dirtysanchez doesn't post much here and if reading thru a non-paragraphed post is all it takes to catch a great story like that then it's a small price to pay.
Seems the GC could have gotten more creative in his excuse for that whole episode besides saying it was a joke.
Would have been much more feasible for the GC to just speak the truth and say the bitch was pms but she pays the bills so deal with it and then an honest apology for the what he said and the way acted. Then just go on.
Acting like that and then lying says a load about the GC. He was the dumbfart in the whole mess.
be a hornet's nest
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
What. You act like you've never told a whole story in one breath.
The opening scene of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.
we have alot of latin crews around here. And some of the best food I ever ate came off a crew jobsite grill. Yall welcome down here anytime. We dont even care if legal.
>>>>>>>>And some of the best food I ever ate came off a crew jobsite grill. No kidding. I've seen a camp stove and a microwave come out the trunk and a mini kitchen set up in seconds. And some mighty good eatin' whipped up with them.Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
If any of the guys that have been working on my house fired up a grill, first thing I'd be doin' is asking them if I could bring out some food for the grill. I can't see anything wrong with that at all, as long as they're doing it safely (i.e. not IN the house) and it doesn't affect their work.
FWIW, I had a decent gas grill on my jobsite for months, and an offer to any of the workmen to fire it up if they so chose, not a one took me up on the offer. This part of the country, it's all redneck white boys who go down to the local convenience store for a sammich, mountain dew and a pack of ho-ho's. Or they have the baloney on white and a 40 in a paper bag in the cooler.
We fired up a few grills and laid out a spread for all the folks that showed up to raise my timber frame, and a lot of the guys were actually surprised that we would provide food. So used to getting or bringin' your own vittles.
The post about eight guys in the garage surrounding a 12 pack and a joint being passed would have gotten every one of them a quick invitation to get the he!! off my property and don't come back. I don't have anything against a beer after work, and I'll even bring 'em, but don't you be doing dope on my property. Do it in your own house on your own time. No cigarettes on the jobsite either. It ain't the smoke that bothers me, it's cleaning up the butts after the lazy a$$holes that toss 'em all over my yard.
Woops, off topic. Rant over.
Yup. I grew up around farming, and when I was young, my grandmother cooked a big lunch for every one working on the farm. Everyone came to the table at lunch. Some of the best finished jobs I've turned out were for the customers that treated my crew the best. If the customer fixed or bought lunch once and was pleasant to the guys, they got special treatment. If a crew feels like they're appreciated, they reciprocate. As far as the herb and alcohol go, if the homeowner wants to slow progess down by offering that stuff to the crew, then it becomes a T&M job and "look at the pretty colors the sun makes on the copper. Want some of these mushrooms?" becomes a warning to quit for the day.Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
or at least pull tthe ladders down before its too late
a loong time ago i worked on the slab crew building boca ratons(read high$$$$ part of town) high school
this ought to say how long ago it was the masons were all italians
anyway the guys i was working with were all older ,llinch break came they all got some loaves of italian bread cheese fruit and a couple jugs of wine out of thier trucks,sat down in the shade and started eating.
young super comes over oh no we aint haveing that wine on the job site
old guys looked at each other packed up thier tools paid me for the day and left
couple days later they were back layin block and eating bread cheese and fruit drinkin wine.==stayed that way till the job was doneDue to recent budget cuts the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice.
When I was little, my Grandpa (A Standard Oil Distributor) delivered fuel to all the equipment (scrapers, graders, turn-a-pulls, etc) building 15 - 20 miles of interstate.
He and his drivers had to fill them a couple times a day and would bring big tubs of Michelob on ice in a small horse trough at the end of the day. They would form a line for him to fuel them at midday so he didn't have to move but a couple times and at the end of the day they lined the equipment up straight as an arrow so he could fill one after the other.
When the general contractor found out about it he forbid it - he was a teetotaler. The guys (all guys at that time) shut the equipment down and told them they were walking out. It didn't take long to get that problem solved and keep the men refreshed.
I'm just a DIYer but I keep a Weber Smokey Joe in the back of my truck and use it right in the bed.
You never know when you might have a grilling emergency.
Great story! If I was the homeowner I would have been po'd that I wasn't offered any carne asada.
Now get over to the tavern and put your 2 cents into the immigration debate. (just kidding)
Not sure I'm following....it was all a joke?
Who was the joke on? You?.....the HO?....the GC?
I dun git it?
If I read it correctly, it sounds like just about everyone is in the wrong. You.....the HO....the GC......your boss.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
I must be dumb as a rock cause I dont get it.
I dunno.
If I understand it correctly, some "rich snob" didn't appreciate "the help" grilling up their lunch on the jobsite. Went off on the GC using racial slurs and in general being an azz.
From that point on is where I think "the joke" comes into play.....GC sends him packin', boss tears him a new one, yadda yadda.
Sounds like all worked out in the end.
Obviously no one deserves the treatment the latino workers received, but I believe the entire ordeal could likely have been avoided had the GC made clear to the HO and subcontractors what the working conditions included, and what they didn't.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Do you guys ever work on jobs where there are "Jobsite Rules" posted? That could have made a difference, as far as not having people doing what is not "preferred behavior". OTOH, anyone who thought doing that is a joke, needs to get a grip. Then he gets all stuttery and teared up. What a nobk. (the k is silent)
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
My feelings are much the same with you all (ya'll??). Most of the south of the border crews, and individuals are extremely hard working and top notch individuals to boot. I agree with Andybuildz though, don't and shouldn't allow smoking or fires of any kind on the job site and will enforce that policy to the max, even with subs. You smoke, go to your car and roll the windows up or leave the property line and then smoke. And I smoke but quit recently. Fire hazard just too great and every homeowner I've met doesn't like or want cig butts all over the place either.I see people holding up a damn sign on the freeway stating, "WILL WORK FOR FOOD", nine times out of nine it's a white guy that claims to be a VIETNAM VET. I get tired of the same guy on the same corner year in and year out, yet there he is. At least he's not violating the law but for c---t sake, what happened to the good old American work ethic? Get a job and change yourself, don't look to someone else to do it for you. In comparison, I can't recall a single occasion seeing a Mexican immigrant, legal or illegal, holding up a sign begging for money. I did see quite a few Mexicans during my little tour of Pleiku and it's surrounds but there, food and lodging was on the house. I've never even heard of an Asian or Vietnamese immigrant doing the begging thing either and most of them arrived and couldn't speak a word of English.One other rant here; how many times have we seen examples of examples of soldiers fighting for the US and are not full on citizens. LOTS! Most of those are south of the border types too. One, I recall, recently received his citizenship after years of waiting with his green card in hand...the sad part was, he got it postumously because he was too close to a roadside bomb in Iraq. I can't think of a more humbling situation then that. That said, HO isn't God and in the case sited, I'd have pressed real hard for an up front, face to face, apology from the homeowner. Would have made it clear from the start that if the homeowner sees a problem, please talk to contractor first but not the individual employees. Unless they have something good to say, keep it between the owner and contractor of architect.One other point, there is a big difference between "IMMIGRANTS" and "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS". Let's not drift over the line into political correctness and meld the two together.
Seems to me that current politicians have it all wrong. We should be shipping people like that arrogant pretentious homeowner overseas and bringing in more hardworking latinos who know how to grill up a good lunch.
How quickly she forgets that the ONLY reason she can afford a waste of space 8k foot home is because of the working class running this country.
We should be shipping people like that arrogant pretentious homeowner overseas and bringing in more hardworking latinos who know how to grill up a good lunch.
What Darrel said. I can't stand arrogance and pretension.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
Seems to me that current politicians have it all wrong. We should be shipping people like that arrogant pretentious homeowner overseas and bringing in more hardworking latinos who know how to grill up a good lunch.
No kidding. I've gotten beer from clients before, but lunch? Hell no.
Jason
First off, thanks for posting your story with a slightly different world-view on a topic that has garnered its share of attention on this board lately.
Let me begin by saying I came to the trades late in life, my previous job was a photographer. When I was young I was a photo assistant and I travelled year-round and met a lot of very rich people and coincidentally, a lot of Mexican and Mexican Americans.
Two things I learned; firstly most rich people are #### that will not, as a previous post put so well, acknowledge that we as Americans can live so outlandishly thanks only to our dependence on cheap labor. People will cuss Mexicans for doing bad work, not speaking english, underbidding them etc., with no apparent regard for all the benefits that we reap from them each and every day. Secondly, Mexicans, and Mexican-Americans are some of the kindest, friendliest, most generous, easy-going people you might ever meet.
So kudos to you for standing up for your men, and for your dignity and by extension all of thus who make a living with our hands.
Thanks,
Kelley Hamby
I've had the pleasure of working with a lot of people from south of the border. I agree, generally speaking, they are great to work with. Give me a room full of latininos over a small handfull of American snobs.
The cafeteria was an experience everyday. We could'nt do grills, but it was amazing what was brought in every day for lunch.
Sounds like this particular woman is "nouveau riche" (SP?) and is unsure she will stay wealthy, or is (probably rightly) feeling she is unworthy of it and is overcompensating. Many wealthy people don't lord it over others--to see some of them on the street, in blue jeans and so on, you wouldn't even know how wealthy they are. Edit: In fact, I was framing a fairly expensive house once (where we had "campfires", right in the middle of the city and no one complained--if they had, our crew would have left and they probably wouldn't have found another crew to replace us) for som VP at Dow and his wife. They had money. She baked us cookies and handed them out to us on a couple occasions.
In the church I used to belong to a lady came in to my office (I was acting secretary at the time) all boiling mad. "Why do we have to have those people working here!?" She meant the mentally and physically disabled people we had hired to do custodial work. She was mad because there were heal marks on the floor and had angrily confronted one of the workers and that worker's non-disabled supervisor had given it right back to her. I fought and fought to keep the crew we had, but as soon as I left the church they fired them all and hired one full time (non-disabled) guy to do the work and convinced themselves this was better.
Edited 4/6/2006 8:22 am ET by Danno
In the church I used to belong to a lady came in to my office (I was acting secretary at the time) all boiling mad. "Why do we have to have those people working here!?" She meant the mentally and physically disabled people we had hired to do custodial work. She was mad because there were heal marks on the floor and had angrily confronted one of the workers and that worker's non-disabled supervisor had given it right back to her. I fought and fought to keep the crew we had, but as soon as I left the church they fired them all and hired one full time (non-disabled) guy to do the work and convinced themselves this was better.
Did anyone there other than you ask what Jesus would do?Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
Who?
In that church it was more like Jesus was optional (that's why I left). It was funny because the lady had a grandchild born with a severe birth defect, yet she was pretty insensitive in this case. I guess the need for cleanliness of the floors trumps sensitivity.
Well, you gotta have your priorities straight.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
If the grilling (by the framers or the drywallers)resulted in a fire, who would be responsble financially for the repairs etc?
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
tanx fer alla dis, guys
there is a lady that is deaf and lacks speach ability that works in the deli at Safeway...
she's polite, warm hearted and really cares about you and yur order...
there is a system in place to get around this and it seems to work....
enter some woman.....................
don't know what set her off but she proceeded to claim self annoitment and climb all over this poor lady... vulgar and derogatory to the max... did I mention venomous too....
so in my usual polite courteous well mannered tactfull self.... encouraged her to settle down and behave not to mention appollogize...
she wouldn't have any of that....
she screams for mangement and spins around and runs right into them... before she can say a word to either of them both inform her that she needs to leave or be removed...
so did yur HO happen to shop at Safeway lately....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
1. When I was younger and more ignorant, I'd thought I was an American like others. Now, I always wonder and be leery of some Caucasian stranger giving me attitude. There's been occasions when my caution was justified.
2. You handled it much better that I could've. I'd never have made it past that HO, let alone the GC.
Next time fix a big pot of caldo or menudo and offer the HO a bowl....
They are all a waste of space and playing the "money" card gets right up my nose! There is a lot of people who forget almost everybody in the USA is /was imported at some stage in recent history (last 400 years). I know a lot of people who tell me "My dad or grandpa came over on the boat.
Any more work from this guy would attract 20% damn fool mark up!!
There is a lot of people who forget almost everybody in the USA is /was imported at some stage in recent history (last 400 years).
how about 10,000 years and we used a land bridge...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Sounds like a buncha serious A-holes. But still, I'd never ever start
BBQ'ing on a job site without permission from the HO. Its unproffesional to say the least and puts the HO in an uncomfortable position if in fact they are uncomfortable with cookouts on "their" property for whatever reason.Its their house and you work for them.
Sorry, thats just how I feel.
If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
I gotta side with andybuildz on the BBQ issue...... But it was obviously handled way wrong.
I have an axiom about employee's that says--- The only thing worse then a bad employee, is a bad employee's wife.
I think the same is true for a bad homeowner..... How many times did ya see (usually toward the end of the project) the wife come out and try to start changing things and start spouting " I can't have this" " how am I expected to deal with this" and the like.
Then the change order/extra work book comes out and the wife is muzzled and exiled from the project. Doesn't happen often , but when it does, it stands out a lot more than the good homeowner.
So if ya want to come work in my area there is plenty of work-- just save some room on the grill for some of my stuff
I agree 100%.
I'd be pretty upset to come home to find a sub grilling in my yard without my permission.
Certainly doesn't justify the treatment received however.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"I'd be pretty upset to come home to find a sub grilling in my yard without my permission."Situational ethics.Depends on how well they grill and if they offered me any.
you only say that 'cause you weren't invited...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
you only say that 'cause you weren't invited...>>>>>>>>>>>I'm vegetarian ...not that I don't eat roasted vegetables over a grill and if you caught some fish to share I'd do that on occasion
<hint hint, tipi fest: )
I'd just never even consider firing up a BB'y on someone's job with out permission...and hey...I think I could wait till I got home.
Also...I think I can sniff out A hole customers from the get go and lay low especially on their jobs. I try not even to talk to them. They're a breed unto themselves...I'm surrounded by neighbors like that...If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
They're a breed unto themselves...
that said it well.........
I'm surrounded by neighbors like that...
we all are...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>I'd just never even consider firing up a BB'y on someone's job with out permission...I agree in principal, but when I first started soldering, I had a charcoal heater. I constantly heard comments from homeowners about "could I cook their steaks while I was soldering" or some other such crap. They didn't mind that I had a hot open fire going on their roof, but they might have gotten PO'd if I'd lit a grill at lunch time. I've worked around Amish and latinos who have grown up with a different set of values than you and I have. Lunch is something to be celebrated and thoroughly enjoyed rather than rushed through. Thye same guys that really enjoy their lunches are the ones that don't have time to take those 10 min morning and afternoon breaks that actually waste 30 mins. Also, grilling out in the yard is less likely to damage the house than the gas grill the owner has sitting on the deck with a 20 lb canister waiting to get hit by lightning.You're right. They should have asked, but only an assshole would deny them that little bit of lunchtime heaven. Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
I agree that for some situations the grill on site can be a breach of professional ettiquette, but this guy did say that the grill was already in use OTJ by framers before him. Sounds more like racial snobbery to me.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Good point. Plus, they said it was basically out of sight from the neighbors. But lets say for a moment it wasn't, and it was a clear violation of construction crew etiquette. Does that justify racial slurs or talking to people like that? Definitely not. Anybody deserves more respect, and a crew which is working hard and doing a solid job deserves a hell of a lot more consideration, even if you as the HO didn't want them to grill in front of your house. The GC who ripped them and then later said it was all a joke sounds like he sucked up to the HO and then tried to have it both ways. There is a difference between discretion and sucking up.
As a DIY who has also spent considerable time working on construction crews, I wouldn't mind for a minute if a crew who were doing good work and bustin a$$ lit up a grill in front of my house. I also know what it feels like to be working for a privileged, arrogant customer and there is nothing which justifies that kind of behavior.
no, I said the HO was in a wrong racial mode. No excuse for that.this does bring up a point that has beeen lurking in the back of my head for a couple weeks tho - with all the racial stereotyping and immigration threads we've had going on lately.
Racism happens from all sides. In my years in this business and the trades, I have worked with and for every single kind of human being there is. Doewsn't matter how you try to subclassify them. There are good and bad in each and efvery group. I deal with people on an individual basis, and I think we need more immigration from all countries, just that it needs to be legal immigration.Said my piece on that now
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Racism happens from all sides. In my years in this business and the trades, I have worked with and for every single kind of human being there is. Doewsn't matter how you try to subclassify them. There are good and bad in each and efvery group. I deal with people on an individual basis, and I think we need more immigration from all countries, just that it needs to be legal immigration.Yup. One Mexican flies the Stars and Bars upside down or takes a dump in the bathtub (which I had to deal with 25 years ago and there wasn't a Mexican in Ky at that time. Drywallers crap in the tub no matter what their skin color or heritage is) and they're all evil. A Catholic priest rapes a choir boy and that makes all homosexuals pedophiles. It's the age old problem of sterotyping. Too many people want to prove themselves superior to others by denegrating them. Too black, too fat, too Jewish, too something. In fact, I'm doing it now by being superior to racist ignoramuses. Hate is the problem. I once had a crew with 3 KKK members on it. When I hired them, I never thought to ask if they hated nigggers. Never occured to me that anyone hated anyone that hadn't actually harmed them. I just don't have the time to hate people like these guys did. I don't have the time to hate anyone. It's too much work. It's much easier to enjoy people for what they bring to the table.CheersWhy is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
Everyone's explanation aside as to why its OK or almost OK or ... other cultures blah blah blah ... or even A hole customers which more'n anyone...I agree about azhole customers. I've had more than my share of the biggest ones on the planet...
The simple point is that good business is all about respect for the customer...patronizing...don't patronize me as your friend,,,just as your customer. Azzhole or not...maybe even more so if they're an azzhole.
Are we as moronic as they are? We call them azzholes but in effect we are even bigger azzholes if we fall into their lame hole of a poor excuse of their perfect little worlds.
Its one of the most simple points to a successful business. BE overly polite!!
Ever notice now a daze when you walk into most any privately owned store how nice they are? Beyond believably nice. Like their Monday morning meetings most have to be about how to "patronize" the customers. Least that's what I walk out of so many restaurants thinking.
Ya wanna BBQ...do it at friggin home...not at my house unless I invite you to and even if I invite you to,,,still I wouldn't do it. I'm paying you to work for me and I could care less if its your religion. Practice it at your church not in my yard. Is that harsh? You bet your azz it is and in a world of high competition if you wanna be successful than don't act like you can practice your beliefs in my yard unless you politely ask me. And do me and yourself a favor...don'tttttt ask me cause that's putting me in an uncomfortable position.
Some people pee in their backyards...I do..I love peeing outside .. but I wouldn't do that in a customers backyard...back in the woods "maybe, in an emergency". Just use common sense...
Its a highly competitive market out there and guess who I'm gonna recommend to my friends and family...not someone that's BBQing in my backyard with out asking.You all gotta be kidding me...Bwahahaha!!!
Realize I'm playing devils advocate here. As for me personally...I'm the easiest going most understanding kind hearted person on the planet but I'm also not stupid. And this has to be the single most "stupid" argument I've ever read in BT. What is there you don't understand here???
And by the way I'm not at all directing this at CU cause the work that guy does he can BBQ in the Popes bedroom...lol....If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
I had a chimney builder who brought a crock pot with all kinds of good stuff in it. Venison, prime rib, whatever. Slow cooking all morning. It was his thing...he wanted to eat good. I didn't care how he or anyone else working there did lunch. Heck, I was happier with him being there on site than the guys who were gone for most of mid-day looking for a fast food place (that served beer!). At least I knew where the crew was. Whether crock pot or bbq didn't bother me nearly as much as stopping the chimney too low (till I corrected them) or stealing my materials after sending me off on an errand to fetch other materials!As for this case, there's enough wrong to spread around. The crew coulda asked before grilling. The owner should never have been abusive. The GC shoulda had a backbone. The poster shoulda taken the high road and not been abusive back. There were no heros here, but bbq-ing was the least of the sins committed.
As for this case, there's enough wrong to spread around. The crew coulda asked before grilling. The owner should never have been abusive. The GC shoulda had a backbone. The poster shoulda taken the high road and not been abusive back. There were no heros here, but bbq-ing was the least of the sins committed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thats exactlyyyyyyyyy what I thought as well...the BBQ part was what seemed to be the piece of evidence that was on trial which is what I ran with.
I also thought...keeping the people on the job was most important and everyone seemed to be equal Aholes IMO as well..but just for the record I was just addressing it from a business point of view. From what should be the contractors viewpoint. Why stir the pot so to speak?
Also, from a contractor/businessman's point of view .. I've worked for enough haughty taughty's...or at least those that thought they were to know better.
A crockpot isnt an open flame nor is a microwave.And what wrong with a friggin sandwhich or a tupperware full O' food?
Sorta reminds me of everyone walking around with bottles of water all day...whats up with that? Ya can't wait til you get home...when I was a kid we never got THAT thirsty...lol.If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
>>Sorta reminds me of everyone walking around with bottles of water all day...whats up with that? Ya can't wait til you get home...when I was a kid we never got THAT thirstyWe also used to be able to wait till we got home to make a phone call, watch a movie, etc. Soon they'll come out with the I-kitchensinkpod or something.
I was just hoping for a transporter to Hunter Mtn this weekend...lolIf Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
We had a blizzard in Manhattan for about 10 minutes yesterday.
>A crockpot isnt an open flame nor is a microwave.And what wrong with a friggin sandwhich or a tupperware full O' food?How about a propane torch to sear the meat? Or an iron! Ever watch Benny and Joon, where they used an iron to grill a cheese sandwich?Personally, though, I don't much care what people wanna eat for lunch, and if grilling makes the crew happy, and is done in the proper time, and is cleaned up, wouldn't bother me a bit on new construction. On a remodel, it's a little different be/c there's already a lawn and driveway, etc. Either way, it'd be polite to ask whomever's in charge.
but if you were a contractor and had your crew at someones home. Would you allow them to BBQ?
I'm not talking about your home or mine...I'm talking about a customer you hardly know from a hole in the wall (that you're there to fix : )If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
Heh Heh You guys crack me up.
dirtysanchez has been back to read but hasn't said another word.
He's probably thinking "Holy cow, did I start all this?"
There is so little known about the onsite conditions and what the flow was like going on there at the time, how can you guys get so opinionated about right and wrong>
There are so many variables that would have to be known to get any kind of idea what really was going on there to make it worthwhile to get so riled up about.
be pooping in a bathtub. ROAR!
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
>but if you were a contractor and had your crew at someones home. Would you allow them to BBQ?
>I'm not talking about your home or mine...I'm talking about a customer you hardly know from a hole in the wall (that you're there to fix : )That's why I said it'd be polite to ask first, though this poster could have concluded it was ok from the fact that he was using the grill the framers had been using! Was it ok for the framers and not the rockers?It'd be strange for me to grill at someone's house be/c I'm just a designer! Show up at the first design meeting and light up the grill!!!!! :)Can't put myself in the shoes of contractor w/ employees, so no good feel for protocol. Heck, I don't even grill here! Still say that the crew coulda asked, and the homeowner coulda asked them not to. Why the need for drama?!? They're all wrong. Not a hero among them.
That reminded me--a bailiff in a court in Bay City would cook stuff in his office--whole court house smelled of whatever he was cooking--sometimes corned beef and cabbage (which is a pretty strong smell). He was the one who shot himself while practicing his fast draw. Also had a new S&W and was shoing it around and a State Police Officer told him the gun had a crack in it--pointed it out. LP sent the gun back and found out that was where two parts fit together.
Razzman hit the nail on the head a few posts back, and I wasn't saying you're wrong. I'm sure there were some circumstances on the site we're not aware of. Yes, they should have asked before grilling. My whole point is a happy crew tends to get more done better. If a hot meal at lunch makes 'em happy, it would be in the homeowner's and GC's best interest to let 'em do it. If they were grilling by the propane tank, then that's a serious problem. We just got fired from a job in 3 hours last week. Homeowner was micromanaging and didn't know his butt from the 18th hole. Wouldn't let us get going enough to show him how it's done right. We left. He called to tell us not to come back the next morning. Now, he's trying to get another crew, but the word's out. If we couldn't make him happy he can't be made happy.Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
That's a good story. I once built next to a HO job where their MO was to get a crew in, and come as close to finishing that part of the job as possible before picking a fight, firing them, and not paying. So the rumors went, anyway. One day, a new crew showed up. When I saw the owner leave, I walked over and gave a word to the wise, suggesting something about trying to get paid. The owner came back, the boss had a chat, and within 15 minutes all the trucks were pulling out. Felt kinda good about that one. The house eventually got built, but boy, did I feel sorry for the contractors.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
this does bring up a point that has beeen lurking in the back of my head for a couple weeks tho - with all the racial stereotyping and immigration threads we've had going on lately. Racism happens from all sides. In my years in this business and the trades, I have worked with and for every single kind of human being there is. Doewsn't matter how you try to subclassify them. There are good and bad in each and efvery group. I deal with people on an individual basis, and I think we need more immigration from all countries, just that it needs to be legal immigration.
True. True.
No new laws needed.
Just enforce the ones we have.
That would take more balls than most politician's have.
Live the Good Life in the Permian Basin.
I don't believe I said we do need a new law on it
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
No. You didn't suggest a new law. Didn't intend to imply that.
Just seconding your point .................and adding one of mine.
Live the Good Life in the Permian Basin.
I ain't in construction runing a crew but I ran a lot of crew's, squads, whatever you want to call 'em.
Only person my people ever took heat from was me.
Live the Good Life in the Permian Basin.
I agree the way she handled it was totally wrong but since when is barbequing on someone else’s property part of the job description? Barbequing is for your own personal time on your own property or a friend or relative.
In all my years of being in the field, I’ve never once seen any contractor or sub ever use a grill on a customers property before. There has been some jobs where I've worked on where the HO broke out the grill and cooked up some good food out of appreciation for the work that we've done on their home but that's different.
"By the way we still have the grill and use almost everyday just in spite."
You know it pi$$ed her off that you were grilling on her property and the way she handled it and the things she said was wrong but why would you still use a grill on her property knowing that the HO doesn't want you too? Just out of spite. Now you’re acting like an A$$!
I would never grill on someone's property or ever let one of my subs do that.
Are there no other way for you and your guys to eat?
Joe Carola
Edited 4/6/2006 9:25 am ET by Framer
When I lived in NE Indiana, where 80 percent or more of the framing, roofing, window and door installation, siding and exterior trim, and inside trim carpentry was done by Amish crews, I saw a lot of grilles on jobs.
But they would light them at 11:30 to get the coals right for a lunch time cook session. It wasn't like they had someone out there grilling all day.
To an Amishman, grilling over some coals was just there way of cooking, while to "English" crews, the microwave is the way to go.
Any microwaves on jobs you have been on? Either inside, or outside in the trailer?
"To an Amishman, grilling over some coals was just there way of cooking, while to "English" crews, the microwave is the way to go.""Any microwaves on jobs you have been on? Either inside, or outside in the trailer?"Gene,I guess that's the Amish way to eat. Not my way. No microwaves on the job, inside or outside.Everyone either brings their lunch or sends someone out to go buy it.Joe Carola
Good on you.
so the point of all this is we can work on other people's property, leave our best work and our biggest efforts with them, work ourselves to the bone for poor wages, risk life and limb for every type of exterior finish, not get paid, receive no benefits or pension plan, be laid off in the off season if we know no other trade, do all sorts of unpaid extras (you all get the point)...but we can't bar-b-q on the site because it is their property? @&$@ off! If you can set up scaffold, use a circular saw, table saw, hammer drill, impact driver, back saw, hack saw, pump jack, bottle jack, planer, sawzall, re-bar bender, brake machine, welder mig and tig, compressor, power washer, vibrator, compactor, gas saw, axe, hatchet.....then i am sure, with no doubt in my mind, that you can use a BBQ and anyone who says you can't is un-american and is a slave driver and should go find a caste system in some other country that has one.
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know" Ralph Waldo Emerson
"then i am sure, with no doubt in my mind, that you can use a BBQ and anyone who says you can't is un-american and is a slave driver and should go find a caste system in some other country that has one."Un-American, Slave Driver.....for not letting contractors BBQ on a Customers property. Are you for real??? Were you just smoking something at a BBQ??????????Joe Carola
Edited 4/7/2006 12:24 am ET by Framer
but you don't question the fact that they don't mind that we do all sorts of dangerous things on the job site because we are serving them and it is for their gain...you're the crackhead if that doesn't anger you. I'm not on drugs and that's why i care. You can have those customers thank you very much. Take them to Afghanistan with you when you go back there.
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know" Ralph Waldo Emerson
You definitely smoked a few at some BBQ. You probably bring your friends and neighbors to the customers house for BBQ's........Joe Carola
i personally would never bbq on a job site but i would if i was gonna get what that was getting. Sounds like you can see the future and can read peoples minds. What am i thinking Mr.Prophet?"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know" Ralph Waldo Emerson
"What am i thinking Mr.Prophet?"Your thinking of me cooking some burgers on a grill at your customers house with my pouch on holding my Hitachi framing gun you sick man you......................Joe Carola
and not sharing I'll bet...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Would you and your crew take it upon yourselves to jump in a customers pool after you BBQ?Joe Carola
depends on the month"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know" Ralph Waldo Emerson
That's what I thought.Joe Carola
you thought right....you are a prophet after all
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know" Ralph Waldo Emerson
That's what I thought.Joe Carola
I would have stood there with a plate in my hands. I am drawn to grill smoke like flies to ####. The next day I would have brought something for them to grill. And I would still be standing there with my plate. That's probably bad because no work would get done.
Edited 4/6/2006 11:56 am ET by arrowpov
LOL... I'm right there with you brother.
While I've never had a grill on one of our sites, we did use to have a microwave in the trailer. Now we've all got these little super fast crockpot things we use for hot grub in the winter. It's funny, but if I were working for a homeowner I wouldn't feel compelled to ask for permission to use the microwave, but I know I'd ask if we were about to fire up a little BBQ.
Actually, I don't like dealing directly with homeowners anyway, so if there were a GC involved, I'd ask him. But on a new construction site, all by ourselves, I'd let the guys use a grill as long as I didn't see effect production in anyway. Personally, if I eat a big hot lunch all I want to do afterwards is curl up in a closet somewhere and snooze it off. But my Brazilian guys can eat like a horse and get right back into work.View Image
When I was building my home, I was working on the foundations in Februrary. I had a wood burning stove sitting in the basement area with just one section of pipe for a flue. I ran out to get a couple packs of hot dogs so we did not waste a good fire.
Next time that happens and someone starts making threats, you got a few of your own.
Ain't there some kinda law against discrimination based upon race, creed, color, national origin . . . . If these guys are legal, they might gotta gripe against Mrs. Richy Rich. Bet she'd change her tune right quick.
Actually to protect your own azz, maybe make sure you let everyone involved know, in writing, that you do not tolerate discrimination or harassment against your employees and it must not happen again, etc.
"Let's get crack-a-lackin" --- Adam Carolla
Edited 4/6/2006 3:10 pm ET by philarenewal
I wouldn't be upset about the grill. Unless you were standing around it drinking 40's. She's obviously one of those people.
I'd make sure the GC got his though. His little stunt is the worse one. Take a crap and cover it up in the drywall. Or drop your left over lunch in there. I know your done with rocking these peoples house but do it on the next house you do for the GC. He needs to pay the price.
The opening scene of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.
"...do it on the next house you do for the GC"
What if the people who end up with that house are really nice?
Don't matter. they have to carry the G C's tax burden.
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!
"Don't matter. they have to carry the G C's tax burden"so that some time when you have your car worked on and a mechanic takes a dump inyour trunk or if some one comes to your house tro work and takes a dump in a closet, you'll laugh it off as just a tax burden?
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
I work on my own cars, and do my own drywall.
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!
Just find a big ole rat and drop it in there.
You know how long those last?
Rank, too.
Live the Good Life in the Permian Basin.
"the next house you do for the GC. He needs to pay the price."will he pay the price or the next HO?
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
Back in '85 I was running the finish crew on a big ol f'n house. As I was walking the job with the design-builder, we made it down to the garage.
Four tapers and four painters, give or take, had a circle formed around two 12-packs and there passing joints.
Not a peep! Maby because they were all excellent craftsman, wich they were, and/or every one in the room was white. Who knows!
TRIGGER
Okay, I've read 80 some posts on this and here's my 2 cents: Maybe they/you should have asked permission before grilling (like I said, we had big fires to warm ourselves; if we hadn't we could have taken breaks in our cars, with the heaters going, but would have gotten a lot less work done), but the woman in your case was way out of line in her response. She could have politely asked the GC to tell you she didn't want grilling done on her property and he could have nicely asked you to stop. But I wouldn't have taken kindly to her or the GC's attitude and words.
The only time I got any "flak" from anyone was in a neighborhood of rich people and a guy asked me not to park on the other side of the street from his driveway because it was winter and he had a big SUV and said he might slide going down his driveway and hit my car. I thought that was kind of stupid, but I thanked him and parked a little further down. When I told others, so they wouldn't park there, their attitude was "to hell with him, it's a public street, I'll park any place I want." The guy had a mailbox on a post at the road and the mailbox was painted to look like a trout. One guy said he wanted to make up a big lure and put it hanging from the "trout's" mouth, but was afraid the guy would get mad. I said he'd probably think it was funny and to do it.
If you do foolish things you have to expect foolish repsonses from others. No one can claim the high moral ground in this story.It was foolish to have an open flame grill on a job site no matter who said it was OK and it was foolish for the homeowner to speak directly to the workmen about it instead of talking to the GC. The only thing unusual about this story is the degree of unnecessary rudeness on both sides. People often resort to rudeness when trying to justify a foolish action but I have to admit that the cultural/class slurs were over the top.If you want the high moral ground you must respond with courtesy and humility and then leave a screw in a water pipe.
I guess that makes a clean sweep of this thread....
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
...and then leave a screw in a water pipe.
I don't know, I'm not the sneaky type. I prefer direct confrontation. A jeweler I worked for, no Casper Milquetoast type--he was about 6'-3" and played baseball, said something like "only an idiot could mess it up so badly" and I said, under my breath, "Then you have my complete confidence." or something like that. He thought the diamond setter (a former bouncer!) had said it and said, "At least have the balls to say it to my face! So I sighed, stood up from my bench and walked up to him and told him what I'd said. He said, "Oh, I thought Mike had said it." That's all that happened. Later, of course, I was fired because we didn't have enough work.