Friends, Romans and Chariots

When you live in an isolated place miles from home one of the most important things in your life becomes your friends. That is assuming that you are the sort of person who makes friends. But your routine drives you and logically (when you can) you steer it in their direction.

Friends are more than just co workers. Friends are the ones you care enough about to share their hurts. Friends are the ones that notice when something is wrong. Friends have your back when trouble arises. And friends are the people who you will likely keep in touch with long after the job is finished.

I have to admit that the first friends I made here were smoking buddies. You see them every day in the smoking pit and when the banter starts you gravitate to the ones whose stories you enjoy. Then you start sneaking smokes with them on the job when getting caught would mean instant firing. And in the first 2 or 3 turnarounds these were the guys who I would meet outside the front doors of the camp when our bus pulled in after work, standing in a circle telling funny stories about how the day went. That circle was flexible by the way. It opened to allow new people into the conversation and closing up as they left. It was very much like a tidal pool which expands with the incoming waves and decreases as they wash back out. Only in the case the waves were people arriving and leaving with the bus fleet.

That group of friends fizzled a bit. Two of the core group of four left the company and I quit smoking. I feel bad because I feel like I am letting the last guy, Herc, down. But he has been transferred to our crew now so he will move into our trailer and will mesh in well with our usual 'trailer talk'. Our trailer crew is now excellent. When several of us joined that crew together several turns ago the conversation seemed to be dominated by some veteran Ironworkers/welders who were totally negative about everything. But after the first turn we lost a couple of cranky guys who quit. Then they made another cranky guy foreman so he not only moved out of the trailer but he stopped being cranky! Finally another miserable old bugger moved on as well. With the leaving of these guys some newer people that are not miserable moved into our trailer and now we have bonded into a fun little crew. We tell jokes and tease all through each of the 3 daily breaks. Mostly our group are young although there are a few old vets in the crew that are fun people and who tend to bring more sunshine than rain. It is a good group.

Of that group several of us meet first thing in the morning in brass alley. As most of us don't smoke we don't stand outside and line up but rather step into the alleys themselves and wait just before the turnstiles for the light to turn green. That might be the most fun of the day and as I mentioned people do steer their schedules to accommodate friends. This is no exception. We all end up in the alley at around 5:35 even though the lanes don't open until quarter to and the busses don't depart until 6am. It is our happy time. How we start the day in a frame of mind that will allow us to work 24 straight 10 hour days that have an additional 45 minutes worth of bus rides attached to each end.

Actually it continues right onto the bus. And the group of friends expands once we board the bus because by routine several people always sit where we always sit and they too become a part of the fun. That being said, once the bus gets going most people either fall fast asleep or alternatively put their head phones on and tune out. But the fun will resume once we arrive at work and hit the trailers. It will continue through our 'toolbox talk' first thing in the morning. And it won't end unlit the last of the group slowly flows out the door and disipates into the worksite. But no worries. We will wash back in at the next break and it will all start again.

I wanted to end with that paragraph above but this is a note I wanted to add. Apart from Down-town Brown I have avoided talking about particular people or naming names. I wanted to figure out a way to do it without offending anyone. Very shortly I am going to start and I suspect this will add a lot of rich fabric to the text and texture of my writing.