My first day working with a construction crew was one of the hardest days of my life.
- It was followed by several more of the hardest days of my life.
Listen, if you don’t need to work construction to pay the bills, I highly advise you to avoid it. This is the most strenuous and back-breaking labor I have ever endured. And it is much more dangerous than I imagined, too. On the job accidents are fairly frequent, and can involve concussions and broken bones, or things far worse. Mel, one of the older techs, is missing his ring finger thanks to underestimating how dangerous rebar rods and wire ties can be. There is a jewelry box in the break room where everyone puts their rings, bracelets, and necklaces whenever there is a job involving rebar rods and wire ties. We call it the Mel Box. Double loop wire ties are so strong and tough they will never need to be replaced. Dealing with wire this strong means you can’t have anything on your body that will catch on it, because wire ties will win out against the human body ten times out of ten. Mel was wearing his wedding ring when installing rebar rods for a swimming pool job, and securing them with wire ties. A piece of rebar rod slipped, the wire tie caught on his ring, and that was the end of his finger. I am told it happened as fast as a loose tooth coming out, and that the wire ties can cut off a hand or a foot just as easily as they can take a finger.