> I had an experience like this too, Ed. Building huge laminated beams at a > Weyerhauser plant in Oregon. Had just finished university and had a great > time, lugging lumber around, slinging 30 lb iron tierods around endlessly, > and pounding down on the beams with a 60 lb weight until everthing was lined > up right. I got into terrific shape real quick, slept every spare moment > when I wasn't on the job or courting my wife-to-be. So it was a great > summer--that's all it was. BUT I think it would have been a gruesome > long-term job, with very little upward mobility or alternatives. The other > workers were long-termers, and you could see the go-nowhere reality of it > all etched on their faces and dripping in their tones of voice. They put > up, barely, with the university kid who was going on to big things. I > appreciated their patience and kindness, and do so even more today. > > Lawry
I know, Lawry, I know. We were the lucky ones. I paid my way through UBC by working on the boom crews way up the British Columbia coast. For me, it was a great life and a great summer. It was a temporary passage. For others it was permanent. Some were my age or maybe just a little older. Others were quite a lot older. Some were farm kids hoping to make enough money to buy a farm, others were guys from central Europe displaced by the war, and still others were just drifters with no particular past or future. Some were very clever and should have had the opportunities I did. They didn't seem to resent me when I worked with them for the summer, but there came a time when I didn't have to go back and they would still be there for many years, living in the bunkhouses and getting drunk on Saturday night. Some of them may have bought their farms or done other things with their lives, but many of them didn't. I too appreciated their patience and kindness. Ed
