It’s funny
how fast things can change at a job that seems to pride itself on its slow
pace. Over the course of one meeting a man who has been a boss to many and
friend to all, can be stripped of all power and the years of hard work it took
to get him there erased from memory. A man who has nothing but compliments and
smiles to offer can be brought to tears in a single text. And a simple congratulatory
barbeque smokie can turn you into a 112 degree sweaty mess before you have time
to make it to the end of the work day. At KMP we are taught that if we spend an
extra five minutes to think about our task at hand to see if there is any way
we can make it safer or most cost effective and general just smarter. It may
take them ten years to build this smelter but it will be in these seconds and
minutes where the actual stories and memories come from.
When I
came first came here to Kitimat to start my job with Bantrel Constructors I was
assigned a foreman to report to for my tasks and to begin my training as a
foreman. I was lucky enough to be put in with Tom. Tom is a KMP veteran, he has
been here since Bantrel began there slow methodical takeover of this jobsite.
Tom is a big man, about six foot four and built like a ‘brick shit house’, so
to go up to him and greet him for the first is kind of intimidating. That is
until the big burly handlebar mustache, camo pant wearing man opens his mouth
with a warm chuckle and soft voice; seriously this man is what I imagine Santa
Clause would be if he decided to open an army surplus store. But a man is not
defined just by his appearance and demeanor but by his actions; and the actions
Tom makes are what make him one of the more well respected and admired people
within not just Bantrel but the whole of KMP. Anyways enough of the man and
more to my story, but first a little background information. Within the world
of construction there is system we use to identify what type of role each
person plays in the field. To identify the people we use colored hard hats. In
my company, Bantrel, everyone who is ‘on the tools’ wears a blue hard hat to indicate
that they are a worker; if you are in some position of leadership you wear a
white hard hat. This helps other people around site who may not know you help distinguish
which person they can go to for direction or questions. In this case as Tom was
a foreman, this is considered a leadership role so he wears a white hard hat.
Well on this particular day I was heading back to our end of the sign out area
near our office trailers and I saw Tom wearing a brand new blue hard hat. He
had a smile on this face and was laughing with a few of the other guys from his
crew so I thought nothing much of it other than it must be some funny joke he
was pulling on the guys. Little did I know this was no joke, word had come from
above that Tom was to be demoted back to just a labourer. I could not
understand what in the world would compel the big man in the office to make
this rash of a decision nor did I have the time to ponder it for the next thing
I knew I was being called into our superintendent’s office and given Tom’s job.
I was conflicted, on one side I was getting the promotion that I had been
waiting for and on the other I was felt I was taking a job from a man who I
thought very highly of. With little power and seniority to run I asked no
questions and took the job and thanking my boss. When I finally found out the
next day why Tom had been given his demotion I truly came to know the world
that I was entering. Tom had not heeded orders and proceeded to probe why my
superintendent’s wife was working as labourer yet she would spend no time in
the field and only in the office and still receive the $8 more that labourers make
over the office staff. Although it sounds a little extreme and I may be completely
off course but I felt almost like I was entering the world of Frank
Underwood. Only my political battleground wasn’t Washington DC but rather
the Kitimat Modernization Project.
In the
wake of Tom’s demotion and three other foremen going on turnaround I was left
with one other foreman and fifty two labourers to take charge of. The other
foreman left me was a man named Andy. Andy hails from Uganda and has now spent
his last five years in Canada working up here in Kitimat. He has had the occasional
chance to go home and see his family but for the most the man is a working
machine and has prior to my start only had 3 days off since the middle of January,
don’t tell work safe. Andy, like Tom, is very pleasant man to work with. He is
telling you what a great job you’re doing and always is happy to chat and tell
you what a wonderful day it is to be here and working. A man without sadness,
that was until a single text message turned a man I had only seen express good
wishes and positive encouragement into a grown man weeping under our lone tree
on site. Andy’s mother had passed away
from a heart attack in the middle of the night. I wished I could have captured
a picture of him under the tree, not for the internet points but too show how
much can change in the matter of a minute. One, we are talking about what a
great job some of the guys are doing with cleanup and the next the African Mr.
Rogers is sitting under a tree crying. Once Andy had gotten a little more
composed he told me was going to leave for the day and his words, “Tomorrow new
day Tanner, beautiful new day.” For the rest of the week you could tell
something was bothering Andy but he still made every effort to make sure that
his mood was not going to affect your day and he would even try and brighten it
up if you were feeling down about it.
After a
wonderful week home seeing everyone I could and spending way to much of my
newly earned money it was time to fly back up to the wonderful world of
Kitimat. Before I had left for my turnaround Bantrel had earned there supposed
one million man hours of work without a time lost injury. This basically means
that if you were too injured to work your normal job you would do a light duty
job all so some big wig could get his bug cushy bonus from the executives. So
in celebration for this the company decided to throw the work force a big
barbeque that would be split up into four separate times to cooperate with
peoples turnarounds. Great for us we have one hour of paid BBQ time. What they
forgot to tell me was that if you go and eat one those big smokies from the BBQ
you would find yourself almost unable to finish the days of work and sent to
the camp medical doctor with a fever of 112 degrees and an angry bathroom mate.
Yep you think being sick at home is a shitty deal try it with one ply toilet
paper, it is not a fun world.
Well that
is going to be all for now it is almost midnight and I really was trying to
finish this earlier but I went out and played floor hockey for way too long to
get this finished at reasonable hour. I miss you all and I will try and fill
another entry tomorrow as a shit storm is currently flying through camp.
Love
Tanner, I used paragraphs!!
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