Melee at All Saints
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
(We have had many crazy things happen out here including fights and people getting kicked off the job weekly for one reason or another, but this is different because Herman is involved.)
Remember the blog about my co-workers when I said that Herman (the head superintendent) was surprisingly bad at dealing with people? Well, this morning he gave me another example of how absurd he is.
We have been having a lot of problems with our steel out on the job. Our sub is American Steel and they do all of the shop drawings, engineering, and purchasing of the steel. They sub out the labor to Azteca though, and Azteca are the iron workers who are actually on our job. This is how it usually works from what I understand, but it is a terrible way to get things done efficiently. Anyway, our biggest problem throughout this job has been with American Steel because they are awful at what they do. They never draw anything correctly, they never have our steel out here on time, and half the time they send us the wrong stuff. Even though Azteca doesn’t work directly for us, they are our erectors and most of our anger comes out on them even though it isn't their fault... and this is not good. These guys are not people that you want to mess with because they are all union guys, and they are all crazy. So, the back story is that these guys are nuts, they do a pretty good job with their given situation, and Herman treats them like dirt.
This morning, after a long meeting where nothing got accomplished except some good name calling (I'm not joking about that either, these men actually talk trash and call each other names during meetings...wtf?) the iron workers go outside and break a couple safety rules. This is not that unusual, but Herman hears Jerry call them out on the radio and he decides he needs to go talk to them himself. I like to eavesdrop on the radio as well, and when I see Herman storm by my office I can't help but follow him to the elevator.
When we get out there Herman immediately starts yelling for Leo, his field assistant, to find out where these "punks" are. I can't give you a line by line on what went down, but Herman made it known he wasn't happy with them and they let Herman know they were in a Union and could do what they wanted. Herman got in their face and yelled at them, and they yelled back at Herman. Herman was cussing and put his finger in this one guy's face, and they were cussing and starting to kind of surround him. Then the unthinkable happened...Herman went on the attack. He did one of those push punches to one guy's face and got a decent shove on another before several people jumped in to break it up (Herman is about 400 pounds and I was impressed with his agility). My instincts were to actually take a couple steps back as this unfolded instead of trying to break it up, and I am happy with that decision. It all happened pretty quick, but it was very intense. There are about 300 laborers on our job site right now, and it seemed like everyone was watching this go down.
Needless to say, we now have a major problem out here at Baylor All Saints. Not only are we behind schedule big time, but now our iron workers are gone for who knows how long. They left after the combat and only a few came back with some union reps. I am currently taking bets on whether we get picketed by the Iron Workers Union or Herman gets fired, with a side bet of whether any weapons get brought to the job site tomorrow.
Labels: ben
posted by benbox @ 3:33 PM,
4 Comments:
Why does all the cool stuff always seem to happen to you?! Oh to be the Box for just one day...
Posted by
Unknown | Sep 13, 2007, 11:51:00 AM
Wait, this happened yesterday!? You did not mention this to me last night when we were cuddling. How could you fail to mention this!?
Posted by Kendal | Sep 13, 2007, 2:37:00 PM
I must have been distracted by my new purchase.
Posted by
...don't ever say "when we were cuddling" again...actually don't ever say "cuddling" again period.
The iron workers didnt show up today, but so far I havent seen any picketers benbox | Sep 13, 2007, 3:00:00 PM
There are still unions that operate like that, I thought that ended in like 1910? So, they seriously went crying to their union, had them send out union reps to the work site and now won't show up?
Posted by
Come on, it is not like you were making them work 18 hour days or paying them 50 cents an hour. You need to go Tony Soprano on these guys.
| Sep 14, 2007, 7:54:00 AM
The Authors
Kendal Haug
Kendal is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin and most recently earned his Masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He works for Bible.org and likes to think he knows how to play the guitar. His man-crushes include, but are not limited to: Ryan Adams, Donald Miller, Ray LaMontagne, Neil Young, Vince Young, and of course The Box.
Ben Box
Box, is a recent graduate of Texas A&M University and currently works for Medco Construction building hospitals and being important. Ben loves paying lots of money on broken down Jeeps and has a propensity for getting Kendal into trouble.
About This Blog
This is a multi-author blog devoted to the happenings of two bachelors living it up in Big D. We will record the daily nonsense that occurs when 2 life-long friends live together in the same apartment and have no shame, sense of fashion, or chance of meeting a girl in the next 10 years.
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Ben and Kendal both highly encourage your comments. They look forward to hearing your thoughts and insights. No matter how harsh the criticism or if you just want to give them a good ole pat on the back and say "Way to Go!" or "Ha! That was a funny story!" or "That Ben sure does crack me up." And if you have a request of something you would like to see Ben and Kendal do or write about, let them know.
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