the beauty of human fragility
last summer i worked on a small construction crew for a few months, just 3 people, and I got to be buddies with my co-worker named Ted. One day i asked him about his previous construction job, what it was like, how it compared to present job.
It is important to understand that this guy was literally like a Neanderthal in every way, physically and stereotypically mentally. I liked him, I liked him quite a bit he was a very nice guy, i do not say that he is like a Neanderthal to be mean or insulting, it’s just the truth. The way he walked with his long thick arms and posture of his shoulders he even lumbered like an ape-man, even large brow ridges.
Unfortunately because of his utter stupidity our boss was abusive towards him verbally, frequently raising his voice in furious anger, lecturing as he yelled in a humiliating way, several times per day… It was rather sad really how mean my boss was towards this poor idiot, it caused him to walk around and work as if on egg shells… constantly worried he would be yelled at, which he inevitably would be.
Really pathetic situation.
So, Ted and i were chatting one sunny afternoon and he told me about his previous job, it was also residential construction but a larger operation with several crews working on a street on several houses at the same time. They employed a bobcat with forklift to move materials, and due to some unexpected problem with the previous operator it was Ted who got to run the bobcat, that was his job, he became well-known to the various crews, and he had to make decisions sometimes about which site on the street would get materials first, who would be the first to get the help of he and the bobcat, as often he would have contemporaneous requests. At first they would yell and get angry with him to try to persuade him to service their project first, but after a while they came to accept his decisions.
It was then that his pitiful eyes sharpened a bit, he raised his head and looked at me, and as if reading from a resume he said to me with the tiny shreds of pride he had left …
"I was respected... I was highly respected"
It is important to understand that this guy was literally like a Neanderthal in every way, physically and stereotypically mentally. I liked him, I liked him quite a bit he was a very nice guy, i do not say that he is like a Neanderthal to be mean or insulting, it’s just the truth. The way he walked with his long thick arms and posture of his shoulders he even lumbered like an ape-man, even large brow ridges.
Unfortunately because of his utter stupidity our boss was abusive towards him verbally, frequently raising his voice in furious anger, lecturing as he yelled in a humiliating way, several times per day… It was rather sad really how mean my boss was towards this poor idiot, it caused him to walk around and work as if on egg shells… constantly worried he would be yelled at, which he inevitably would be.
Really pathetic situation.
So, Ted and i were chatting one sunny afternoon and he told me about his previous job, it was also residential construction but a larger operation with several crews working on a street on several houses at the same time. They employed a bobcat with forklift to move materials, and due to some unexpected problem with the previous operator it was Ted who got to run the bobcat, that was his job, he became well-known to the various crews, and he had to make decisions sometimes about which site on the street would get materials first, who would be the first to get the help of he and the bobcat, as often he would have contemporaneous requests. At first they would yell and get angry with him to try to persuade him to service their project first, but after a while they came to accept his decisions.
It was then that his pitiful eyes sharpened a bit, he raised his head and looked at me, and as if reading from a resume he said to me with the tiny shreds of pride he had left …
"I was respected... I was highly respected"