First Day at Work

Last week we started our jobs. All of us are doing some sort of manual labor. 7 of us work for a construction company...My job is a little different. I've got about a thousand things that I would love to blog about my job but I will just start with the first day.

Originally we were all set up with jobs that we would hold through the duration of the summer. At some point before the program started, one of the employers backed out of the deal. That left 4 people without a job, myself included. The other 3 were Chad, Riley, and Jeff.

What looks and sounds like an unfortunate situation on the surface, has turned out to be one of the greatest learning experiences of my life...and I've only been doing it for a week.

They sent us to a place called Labor Finders. It's a "day labor" office in what is the "rough" part of town. It's right across the street from a homeless shelter, and it's evident that many that stay in the shelter also work at Labor Finders.

Day 1 at Labor Finders was an experience in and of itself. We were told to be ready to leave the house at 4:45am. So the 4 of us woke up at 4:00am, put on our work clothes, packed a lunch, ate a bowl of cereal and left at 4:45am.

When we arrived at the office, there was already a line outside the door. The office opens at 5:30am and if you want any hope of getting a job that day, you'd better be there before then. Josh gave us a few words of advice about Labor Finders...he had been in a similar situation with work last summer. He told us about the manager of the place named Richard...and how we'd have to work hard to earn his respect. Boy was he right.

It's nearly impossible for me to describe the scenario that we walked in to. I really wish I had pictures to illustrate my surroundings. First of all, I was incredibly embarrassed with my clothing. My brand new work boots were spotless and so were my new dickies pants. It made me feel even more out of place than I already did. Everyone's clothes had been "broken in" by what appeared to be years of hard labor. Let’s just say that the attire was quite a bit different from the pastel polo shirts and business casual dress of my every-day life prior to the TG experience.

We stood in line acting like we knew what we were doing, but two older gentlemen saw right through us. Luckily they were nice enough to tell us that we needed to get an application from Richard and they pointed him out. The 4 of us made our way over to the counter as Richard was walking out from behind it. "Excuse me," Riley asked, "can we get a some applications?"

"....um....can I pee first?" Richard replied sarcastically. Off to a bad start.

Finally, they reluctantly gave us some applications and we began to fill them out. As I finished and approached the counter, I saw that Chad was talking to Richard. "Can I use a credit card as my second form of ID?" Chad asked. "Absolutely Not. You don't have a Social Security card on you?" Richard retorted. "No sir" Chad answered. "Well then I can't help you" Richard stated as he threw Chad's application carelessly on a desk behind him. We were not making a very good first impression.

Luckily I happened to have the wallet that I no longer carry and it had my social security card in it. I was safe for now. Jeff also had his card but Riley did not, so Chad and Riley went to a nearby social security office to wait until it opened while Jeff and I awaited employment.

So I sat there...just thinking...for hours. Richard was obviously not very impressed with these 4 suburbanite boys that strolled in off the street with their northface backpacks, mountain hardware jackets, and brand new work pants (ok...I was the only one with brand new work pants but you get the idea).

Neither I nor Jeff got a job that day. This isn't really a “first come first serve” situation. It's not a government funded agency. It's a business. They provide a service to their customers (people in search of labor workers) and they want to provide their customers with the best possible service. That means the hardest workers get the jobs. We had not yet proven ourselves to be worthy. We found out from one of the kind older men that if Richard hasn't given you any work by 9:30, you're not getting work that day. Case closed. Go home. So Jeff and I waited until Chad and Riley returned at about 9:45 and the 4 of us went back to the cabin with our tails between our legs. Not a great first day at work.