Wednesday, August 15, 2018

We have a new roof


Historical Photo:
 Historic Century house Cleveland Ohio


To tell the truth, I am not happy that our USA labor force has changed, but it has. The four men who did out roof were all Hispanic.  Illegals?  I have no idea. Mr. Baster hired them and he is supposed to check for work permits. None of the men spoke enough English to answer simple questions.

I am not knocking them, I watched them work and remember when I and my fellow workers worked that hard. My son Mark, the hardest most consistent worker I ever had, would have fit in with this crew. 

Jerry Rogers of Florida made a statement once when I commented on how hard he and his Florida crew worked.

Jerry said, “Hey Jack, we quit school because they wanted us to go out on recess!”  LOL

At the end of this roofing job a look of ‘shock’ was on the workers faces when I got my own ladder and climbed to the roof to inspect. It was a very good job. The working area was clean and all debris policed. I knew they are thinking ‘what does that old man know?’  They don’t know I and my son built and roofed this house.

When I climbed down and gave them the thumbs up, with ‘Mucho gracious’ and then gave them a tip for the hard work, then they sure smiled.  They knew the tip was from my heart because I did not hire them Mr. Baster did and he will pay them. 

I do have friends who are out of work in the drywall and framing business because contractors can hire Hispanic labor cheaper and that is the name of the game. I did hire a Hispanic crew once because my regular subs were busy and I needed the job done.


They do believe in the ‘siesta’. I was surprised when we traveled in Europe that stores closed from 12-2:30 for siesta time. Most construction workers will take 15 mins. breaks morn and afternoon and an hour for lunch.

These guys took no breaks but slept from 12 to two. The first day I kept wondering when they would go back to work after lunch and noticed they weren’t sitting around shooting the breeze at noon but they all ate and found a place to sack out and went to sleep. (One exception was a dude that talked on the phone the entire time. I guess he is Americanized!) 

This is not a post against the Mexicans who are here due to a demand. But it is to the American worker (not all) that allowed this to happen. They caused a void and caused the demand that the Hispanic is filling. I also appreciate family men and men of faith, most of these Hispanic guys fit that bill. Blame also goes to the contractors. 

You cannot over look our government that also looks the other way. there is enough blame to go around.
Thanks for taking the time to read this ‘mess’.
Nite Shipslog
PS: Yes, I think everyone in the USA should learn English.  Learning a new language is tough, most of these guys are trying. Some pick it up faster than others.  ME? I have been trying to learn Spanish for a long time now, I still want to learn and converse in Spanish.

7 comments:

betty said...

Glad that the roof is done! When we had our block fence put up a few years ago, the guy who did it had hired what I'm thinking was a Hispanic person who was not eligible to work here but he paid him under the table. The guy up and quit on him before our job, so the guy ended up having to do it alone (I guess the risk you take for trying to get someone "cheap" so to speak). I think a lot of companies hire similar for positions like roofing, etc. Good that you inspected it and I'm sure they did welcome your tipping them!

betty

Lisa said...

Im glad your roof is done and in good shape. Hispanics do work hard and fast. They do take a lot of the jobs a white man has turned too lazy to do, however, They are paid cheep labor but do not have to pay taxes and 10 dollars to them is like 100 after they send it to momma.
Nick and I both struggle to find new work because most require you to know spanish. I would like to learn the basics like “hello, how are you” and “does your dog bite?” Lol. Yes our neighborhood is filling up.

Off to work
Lisa

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Good to hear the roof is done and you had such good workers too. Far too many people are afraid of hard work and want the easy way out. I like the idea of a siesta every day. I don't do noon till two, but like a nap to get me through the rest of the day. Maybe I'll have to start a new habit! Noon till 2. I wonder if they had to have an alarm to wake them up or if they did it on their own.

Chatty Crone said...

Glad your roof is done - it was a big job - we had it done before. I try to take a little siesta every day too.

Mevely317 said...

Well put, Jack.

I think it's far easier to watch the newscasts (particularly our living in a border state) and pass judgement.
Another to witness - and reward - the work of those willing to do what others won't. When Tom was working regularly some of his best helpers were Hispanic. I suspect there was a lot of 'don't ask, don't tell' going on.

Like Ma, I'm certainly enjoying my naps!

Rick Watson said...

The Hispanic people I know are delightful people.
They work hard at jobs a lot of folks won’t do.
I’m glad the roof is on.
R

Sheila Y said...

We had a hailstorm in Kansas that required a new roof. I was pregnant with Cori and when we came back home after a doctor appointment the immigration people were there picking up some of the people. Rick joked ‘can’t you let them finish’? It was a bit of a surprise to drive up on. It didn’t delay the roof getting done though. Love from Florida, Sheila