I had an experience like this too, Ed. Building huge laminated beams at a Weyerhauser plant in Oregon. Had just finished university and had a great time, lugging lumber around, slinging 30 lb iron tierods around endlessly, and pounding down on the beams with a 60 lb weight until everthing was lined up right. I got into terrific shape real quick, slept every spare moment when I wasn't on the job or courting my wife-to-be. So it was a great summer--that's all it was. BUT I think it would have been a gruesome long-term job, with very little upward mobility or alternatives. The other workers were long-termers, and you could see the go-nowhere reality of it all etched on their faces and dripping in their tones of voice. They put up, barely, with the university kid who was going on to big things. I appreciated their patience and kindness, and do so even more today.
Lawry > We thought we had it pretty good. We were > members of a pretty powerful union, the International Woodworkers of > America, which got us a pretty good wage. It was just that, to keep a big > sawmill running (and to keep your job), you had to stay at your machine. > It couldn't have operated otherwise. Besides, I was sixteen or seventeen, > athletic and loaded with testostrone. I had to run between banks of saws > and jump over logs coming at me full speed. I knew I was being > used, but I > was a dumb kid, and did everything I could to out jump or out run anyone > else. > > People have to live through whatever circumstances they are cast into. > After they have lived through them, they can reflect and think on > them, but > while they're living them, that's not easy to do. When I think back to my > sawmill or logger days, I sometimes wonder that I'm still alive. > But I am, > and that's good enough for me. > > I really don't think labour conditions are better now than they were in > 1952. Then, even a dumb kid who dropped out of school could get a > good-paying job. That's not possible now. The job market's changed and > there's far less security. Historically, there's no reason to expect a > steady upward progression. Things are good for a time, then bad > for a time. > It's the human lot. > > Ed > > > Ed Weick wrote: > > > When I was in my teens and a high-school dropout, I spent a > year working > in > > > a large west-coast sawmill that supplied wood to a pulp and > paper mill. > The > > > whole purpose of a sawmill is to take large logs and reduce > and reshape > them > > > to something that could serve a purpose such as construction > or, in the > case > > > of my sawmill, making paper. If you were operating a machine - e.g. a > > > "jumpsaw" - involved in this process, there was no way you could leave > it > > > without causing total chaos. We took scheduled breaks. At ten in the > > > morning, at noon, and at three in the afternoon (and equivalents on > night > > > shift and graveyard shift), the "head sawyer" would simply stop sawing > logs > > > and everyone would go to the lunch room or the washroom, or wherever. > The > > > only other times the system would shut down was if a machine "went > > > mechanical" or if there was a real emergency. There was > simply no other > way > > > of operating. We all understood that. > > > > > > Ed > > > > >
