16 Penny Summer

 

Summertime is the time for making money. Sophomore year of college was a good one, but there was void in my bank account that needed to be filled before I was properly funded for a good Junior year. Being an underclassman, and an English/Poly Sci major, there were no useful and certainly no profitable internships available to me. So I headed home and picked up the same job I had worked the previous summer; as an apprentice carpenter for a local remodeling contractor. There was plenty of work, and I had established myself as capable and available, so they paired me up with a lead carpenter by the name of Jimmy, and away we went.

I liked Jimmy from day one. He stood about 5’7”, had close-cropped blonde hair, and the permanent red-tan skin of a man who works outdoors. He walked with a certain swagger that is characteristic of all experienced framers, spoke with a loud clear voice, and used plenty of colorful language. He was a former military man and had racked up his carpentry experience working for engineering crews in the Army. When the boss introduced me to him as ‘Stu’, Jimmy immediately laughed and shouted, “like Disco Stu from the Simpsons!” I was “Disco” for the rest of the summer. He seemed to take a liking to me; I think Jimmy saw my curiosity and work ethic and knew I was someone he could work with.

We quickly became the framing team. We would walk on to a job with fresh concrete and a pile of lumber on Monday and walk away from a fully framed, neat and clean addition on Friday. I’m not sure how many we did that summer, but that pattern was the rule more than the exception; with a few filler projects mixed in to keep us busy when the Project Managers couldn’t get their schedules lined up quick enough for our ferocious pace. Framing is hard work; lifting heavy beams, hauling piles of lumber to locations with challenging access, throwing sheets of 5/8” plywood onto roofs; all under the relentless summer sun. There’s no shade when you are building a house; the project you’re working on is the very shelter that you wish you had. But I love a physical challenge, and when you added in the smell of the green lumber as it shredded into sawdust under the scream of the saws, the pop of the nail guns, the grind of the compressor, and of course, some mix of Alan Jackson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Guns’N”Roses, and Garth Brooks (and plenty of off-key harmony) soaring over the top of our zealous industry, it created a captivating summer cocktail. I drank deeply.

There’s a sacred camaraderie that naturally forms when folks cooperatively engage in a physical undertaking. If you sweat together for long enough, you are family. Under that hot summer sun, Jimmy and I became a team; we hooted and hollered, laughed and sang, and above all, we worked. On one occasion, the Project Manager brought us to the building site that we would be framing in a week or two. At the moment, that site was occupied by several hundred square feet of concrete driveway that needed to come up. He gave us a digging bar and a 12-pound sledgehammer and told us to get started while he went to the yard to pick up a jackhammer. By the time he showed back up at the job site two hours later with the jackhammer, we had all the concrete busted up and half of it loaded into the rolloff dumpster. Jimmy and I took a moment to mock the Project Manager for thinking we needed a jackhammer in the first place; quipping that we’d of busted that concrete up with our fists if we needed to. We were invincible.

By mid-August, it was time to make some preparations to go back to school. After work hours, I began digging up my books and notes and wading through the summer sawdust that had filled my brain, trying to revive something of a mental foundation for the new school year. It was difficult. The transcendental themes of the romantic poets seemed a bit silly in light of the earthy progress of framing a home; the modern political theories of good governance seemed grandiose and more than a little pompous in light of the humble dirt and sweat of hard physical work in my hometown. A seed was planted that summer; I saw a clear disconnect between the soaring rhetoric and grand theory of the University, and the humble grind of the everyday man. It became something of a mission for me to figure out how to reconcile the world of the thinking man with the world of the working man.

Eventually, September came, and on the day of my final paycheck, the boss took Jimmy and me out to a big lunch. The paycheck was quite a bit larger than it usually was on that particular day, and I think it is safe to say that he had done as well by us as we had done by him that summer. Carpenters are not known for sentimentality or an ability to express complex emotion in words, so my farewell from Jimmy was brief; a colorful joke and an awkward handshake.

Three weeks later in my campus apartment, my phone rang while I was ploughing my way through Kant’s relentless sentences, and Jimmy’s jovial shout blasted through the earpiece at me. “Disco! What’s your address? I got something for you!!!” A few days later there was five-foot-tall tube waiting for me at the mail center. I opened it up to find a massive poster of Johnny Cash, middle finger raised to the camera. The note inside was a torn off corner of a yellow legal pad, the weapon of choice in the construction industry, and simply said, “Have a great year Disco.”

Another couple of weeks went by and out of the blue I got a call from my former boss. “Hey Stu, you haven’t seen Jimmy at all have you?” I certainly hadn’t, why would I? “Well… he didn’t show up for work last week, and a couple days later, the sheriff came by. It turns out he and his brother had half an acre’s worth of pot plants growing in their backyard, and were selling weed to folks all over the county. We also learned that he got kicked out of the military years ago for brewing heroin in storage closets, along with several other drug-related charges. For whatever reason, they think he’s headed to Mexico. Just thought I’d tell you, with you guys being buddies and all, and you being in San Diego. You might want to keep your distance.”

It’s no great surprise that I never saw or heard from Jimmy again, but I do think about him from time to time. It’s simultaneously fearful and wonderful that someone can all at once be a great hand, a great buddy, and an agent for better in the maturation process of a young man; yet at the same time be a crook and a drug peddler.

Published in Group Writing
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 15 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Stubbs Member
    Stubbs
    @Stubbs

    NOTE: Names have been changed (except my own) for obvious reasons.

    Addendum #1:

    What’s the difference between an English major and a large pizza?

    A large pizza can feed a family of four.

    • #1
  2. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Best post of the week, and it’s only Wednesday!

    • #2
  3. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    Stubbs: At the moment, that site was occupied by several hundred square feet of concrete driveway that needed to come up. He gave us a digging bar and an twelve pound sledge hammer and told us to get started while he went to the yard to pick up a jackhammer. By the time he showed back up at the job site two hours later with the jackhammer, we had all the concrete busted up and half of it loaded into the rolloff dumpster.

    In addition to posting on February’s Group Writing theme “We need a little summer,” this post would also work on March’s Group Writing themeFeats of Strength.”

    Nice job!

    • #3
  4. Pilli Inactive
    Pilli
    @Pilli

    GREAT post!

    We would walk on to a job with fresh concrete and a pile of lumber on Monday, and walk away from a fully framed, neat and clean addition on Friday. 

    There is nothing quite like the feeling of accomplishment gotten from hard work that produces a well done result you can stand and admire.

    One thing about working your summer framing job, you had a fall-back in tough times if your English/Poli-Sci major faltered.  That’s a good thing.

    Have you ever gone back to look at some of the homes you worked on to see how things held up?

     

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Except for the last two paragraphs, that all brought back memories. I’m young enough to still think I could do that sort of work (a little more slowly), and old enough to have forgotten how hard it really was.


    This conversation was inspired as part of our Group Writing series under February’s theme of “We Need a Little Summer.” We’ve still got a week left this month, and while all the slots are filled, we can always use a bonus, like this one. On the other hand, we also have plenty of open dates for March with the theme of Feats of Strength. So, come on down and sign up today afore the law catches up with ye.

    • #5
  6. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    Great post!

    The summer after my freshman year of college, I pursued a minimum-wage job as a non-union bench carpenter in a company that manufactured cedar homes and sheds. We built the panels (walls, roof, floors) on benches set up with jigs for each particular piece. No wussy nail guns for us in 1966, nosiree. Arms and hammers all the way.

    And heaven help you when a nail bent and the nail puller made its loud unavoidable squeak resounding around the shop. . . loud cries of “Nail puller!” came from every direction. And there were some real characters in that place (perhaps best left for some other time). From 7:30 to 5:30 with a half hour for lunch, the end of each day came with relief and pride.

     

    • #6
  7. Stubbs Member
    Stubbs
    @Stubbs

    Pilli (View Comment):
     

    One thing about working your summer framing job, you had a fall-back in tough times if your English/Poli-Sci major faltered. That’s a good thing.

    Have you ever gone back to look at some of the homes you worked on to see how things held up?

    Ironically enough, I’m now a General Contractor who enjoys reading and writing rather than Teacher or Lawyer who enjoys home projects.  I also work in the same area I learned in, so I see my old projects from time to time and catch the news from my old boss.  As far as I know, everything is holding up pretty well so far; but this story only takes place 16 years ago, so ask me again how things look in another 30…

    Thanks all for the compliments.

    • #7
  8. Stubbs Member
    Stubbs
    @Stubbs

    Fritz (View Comment):
     

    And heaven help you when a nail bent and the nail puller made its loud unavoidable squeak resounding around the shop. . . loud cries of “Nail puller!” came from every direction.

    I know this shame well… It’s good fun to be on both sides of the shaming.  Not too PC, but the construction industry blessedly never was.

    • #8
  9. dajoho Member
    dajoho
    @dajoho

    The human condition – great story.

    • #9
  10. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Excellent.

    • #10
  11. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    In my college days a good summer job could pretty much cover a year in college. Lots of guys with family working in the steel mills around Pittsburgh got summer jobs there. A summer in the mill made you study a little harder in the fall. Great post.

    • #11
  12. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    I love this article.  Humans are complex critters and I’m pretty sure I’d like your drug dealing pal.

    • #12
  13. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    That was a terrific story!! Well written, with an “O. Henry” ending! There is a great deal of satisfaction gained from doing a hard job. But, I’m old enough now that I’m glad I finished college and can work with my brains, instead of my brawn. Especially now that my brawn is mostly a memory. Jimmy sounds like he was a fun guy, and I wish him the best. Sheesh…

    • #13
  14. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Thanks, I really enjoyed this story. Reminds me of my last summer job (but without the drug bust angle – mine only dealt with assault).

    Thank you.

     

    • #14
  15. CarolJoy Coolidge
    CarolJoy
    @CarolJoy

    Awesome post. The twist at the end almost makes it seem like carefully plotted fiction. Of course, the best true stories always have that element.

    • #15
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.