“Say a prayer for the common foot soldier…”
Dateline: The Classic EXPO behind the scenes
“Dreams don’t work unless you do.”
– John C. Maxwell
There sits within a forklift a man with a grimy nametag and a well-worn baseball cap.
He is in the machine, but is not of the machine. He is a working stiff; he is your neighbor here in Greenville. He is your neighbor here in South Carolina.
Matters not his race, matters not his politics; what matters is that he is a human being worthy of respect, worthy of dignity…he is a working stiff.
His advanced degree can be seen in his cracked knuckles, can be seen on the calluses lining his feet, can be seen in the nagging tweak in his back…he is a working stiff.
Yesterday morning I went into the TD Convention Center not to see the chrome and bright lights, but to see the grease, hear the hammers of those who are putting the GEICO Bassmaster Classic EXPO presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods show together.
The working stiffs.
I came there to do two simple things:
Shake their hands.
And tell them, simply, “Thank you.”
THANK YOU.
“…spare a thought for his back breaking work…”
These big convention centers are pretty cool, but they are not magical; we don’t just show up and water and poof…there’s everything, all done.
When you walk in the doors this place is going to rock. I’ve been to a lot of expos in all the major sports and trust me on this, what you will see when you walk in the door is no second rate presentation. This is a major sporting experience for you in this joint.
By the way, it doesn’t matter what day you come – Friday, Saturday or Sunday – we guarantee you this, many of our players, our anglers will be here waiting to meet you, waiting to shake your hand, to sign something for you…and…none of them will charge you a dime for their signature.
Imagine that.
“…say a prayer for his wife and his children…”
“Without labor nothing prospers.”
– Sophocles
I watched a young guy up pick up some hardware, turn it over in his hands, put it down, pick up another piece, turn it between his thumb and forefinger, put it down.
I watched as he then spread all the parts out with the palms of both his hands, watched as he bent down a bit, turned his head to the side, then with his right hand, smoothed the items, and those sitting on their side were righted so all the things were the same.
I watched as he took a half step back, bent over further this time, head coming almost level to the top of the bench thing. Watched as he snugged up his safety glasses, pursed his lips in and out, then suddenly smile and stand upright.
I watched as he reached into almost the center, maybe the 2 o’clock position, pick up one item, bring it up close to his face, smile wider and then turn and toss it into a green plastic garbage can.
Seems when he emptied the box of things into his hands, one, just one, didn’t feel right, and rather than just use it, he was on a mission to find it, and toss the defective item.
The working stiff.
“…let’s drink to the hard working people…”
“Do you mind if I take a photo of you up there?”
There is a scissor lift thing at full extension with a man standing inches from the ceiling.
From somewhere above, “No, no problem.”
I take a couple photos.
Then, “I’m done, thank you.”
“Huh.”
“Thank you, thank you for what you do.”
And with that the man peers over the edge.
“Excuse me?”
“Thanks, dude. Just want you to know we appreciate what you do.”
After a few second pause I started to walk away when very quietly from way above me came, “You’re welcome.”
And when I turned around and looked up all I saw was a red-rubber gloved hand stuck over the railing.
With a thumbs up.
The working stiff.
“…let’s drink to the salt of the earth…”
“Someday is not a day of the week.”
– Janet Daily
I watched those who will stand for 20 to 30 hours on the carpet in the booth lay the carpet down in the booths.
When you see them, they will be all spiffed up in the clothes bearing the various logos of the companies they work for, but long before you arrived, they were in jeans and sometimes some pretty smelly shirts, putting their booths together.
I mean, using hammers and drills to set up the big wooden boxes. I saw one guy on his knees putting down pretty much the same flooring my wife, Barb, and I were looking at in Home Depot to put down in our dining room.
One of the boat guys, I could only see his feet overhanging the side of the boat as he was wiring show lights in it, watched as the people who will sell you stuff built the shelves that stuff will sit on.
You think this is a glamour gig for these folks? Just watch as several forklift trucks pull up to their square feet of floor space and drop off dozens of boxes and drive away.
Every big booth you walk into will have been pretty much put together by the folks standing there, smiling at you.
That’s pretty darn cool, and you know what, not a one of them will be upset when I call them:
The working stiff.
“…let’s think of the three thousand million…”
This man here, is my father:
That guy up there, is my uncle.
They are all the men and women on my block, in the neighborhood where I grew up.
I don’t care if the managers like me or not, I don’t care if the rich like me or not, I don’t care if the powerful like me or not.
I care that the two-jobs-to-make-ends-meet guy likes me. I care that the young women stuck in a crappy job so her and her carpenter husband have health care likes me.
For it is in their eyes that I see my heritage.
I want you to know, or at least think about, who built the glitz you see around you in the EXPO. Many of them will shake your hand, many of them will hand you a brochure. Know this: None of them arrived in some fancy limo and just walked into the joint.
Glitz is always brought to you by many of whom it never shines on. Take a moment to know that many of your neighbors helped put all of this together.
In life, pull back the curtain and say ‘thank you’ to those behind it.
And to the 50-something-year-old person now handing fries out the window because of corporate downsizing, believe me when I say this, because I know it to be true:
If you can still see the mountaintop, you can still get up there.
Trust me.
And to all who put this here Classic gig together, whether with hammers and nails or pens and pencils, thank you.
db
“…let’s think of the humble of birth,
who burn the fires and who still till the earth.”
Salt of the Earth
The Rolling Stones
“Cherish those who built the place because in the end they will be the only ones who will be able to fix it.”
Mr. Willie Manual
Buffalo YMCA Director 1968
Told to me.