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Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Ghetto Lego
Yesterday our anticipated building boom got under way by 7:30 A.M. Whatever you may have heard about lazy minority persons, none of it applies to the fellows across the street building cement block walls. Without appearing to hurry, gracefully, efficiently, singing, laughing, calling greetings to passers by, the cement block workers put four walls under the house-to-be. First a man arrived in a car driven by a woman, a car also containing a tiny boy. The man got out, began to walk the site, checking out tools and materials. Directly behind him the tiny boy walked in over-sized teddy bear slippers. This child obviously jumped out of bed to help take Daddy to work. Each small gesture, the exact way of walking, the pause, the hand to the chin, all of it was copied precisely by tiny boy behind big man. Soon two more men pulled up in a white truck. The car with woman and boy left. Immediately another truck drove onto the space...two more men. The men unloaded cement tubs, buckets, hoses, electric cords, tools, wheel barrows, a surveyor's stand-up siting tool, and a cement mixer. Then three men began distribution of blocks around the foundation as the fourth man started to mix cement. By the time cement was ready, blocks were in place and all four guys got busy building the walls. From time to time throughout the day one man made more cement while others distributed more blocks. Once the owner showed up, plans in hand. They all sat on the grass and watched the plans as Mr. Owner explained what went where. This must have been a mere courtesy since the workmen already had part of the job done. At lunch time, two men went away in a truck and two stayed onsite eating home sandwiches and drinking from water bottles. By 4:30 P.M. work ceased for the day. All tools went back onto the trucks and left with the men.
This morning the cement crew awakened me...7:30 again. A good bunch.
Yesterday afternoon I sat on my porch watching the job for a while. My street and sidewalk are always busy during the day and every passerby commented that the new house is a harbinger of better things to come for 38th Street. Even my taciturn neighbor, a person who says as little as possible and avoids having to look people in the eye, he came out onto his porch, watched the work, turned to me, beamed, and said, "Good," turned and went back into his house.
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