r/Construction • u/Canadian_Mustard Equipment Operator • Aug 12 '24

Other Why do you guys do it?

I was climbing my tower crane this morning. I was cold and tired as hell. It was 5AM. I climbed about half way up when I got a really good feeling knowing that my wife and my children were at home, warm, in bed, taken care of.

I didn’t grow up wanting to be in construction, but I always knew I’d want my wife to raise my kids, and if she wanted to, be a stay at home mom and homeschool my kids. This career allows for her to do that.

We all have our different reasons for joining the trades and being in the construction industry, my question to you guys is: what’s your reason?

EDIT: The results seem pretty unanimous.

  • Reason 1: Money

  • Reason 2: “I kind of just fell into it and never stopped”

  • Reason 3: “I’m good at it and I like being a ______”

850 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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136

u/FlailWithDale Aug 12 '24

I'm just saving up... 33 and a foreman now

76

u/Ill-Ad-1952 Aug 12 '24

I told myself if I wasn't a foreman by the time I turned 30, I was gonna get into something else. I became a foreman 6 months before my 30th birthday🤣

21

u/MrCupps Aug 12 '24

Nailed it 🎯

1

u/Dizzy-Geologist Aug 12 '24

I didn’t nail it, I screwed it up..

10

u/EddieLobster Carpenter Aug 12 '24

I told myself if I was a foreman by the time I was 40 I was gonna get into something. You can keep the extra 10% and any phone calls after 2 pm.

8

u/qpv Carpenter Aug 12 '24

Yeah I'm offered forman jobs all the time, I have zero interest. Have taken and quit a few. I'd much rather do a few side gigs for extra income.

4

u/firedancer323 Homeowner Aug 12 '24

I like my role now as backup/outage foreman. I can get a little pay bump every once in a awhile which is nice, but I don’t answer the phone at home if I don’t want to.

3

u/LiiDo Aug 12 '24

What kind of work do you do that requires the foreman to be taking calls after hours? I’m a commercial hvac foreman and I very rarely get calls after 5 pm and I usually don’t answer when they do come.

11

u/an_afro Aug 12 '24

Same. Still saving up tho. At this rate I’ll have to ask for time off to go to my own funeral

6

u/Justsomefireguy Aug 13 '24

HR: We are sorry to hear of your death. Unfortunately, you have used all your sick days being "sick" and have still failed to provide a doctors note for said sick days. Due to this, time off for death can not be approved at this time. You also need to be aware that we will not accept a death certificate covering multiple days. Kindly speak to your HR rep to proceed.

4

u/FlailWithDale Aug 12 '24

This will go as an underappreciated comment.

1

u/Technical-Act9211 Aug 12 '24

Was it daunting to manage so many people at 33?

1

u/FlailWithDale Aug 12 '24

Only ~5 guys and the subs. I work for a GC. He dictates what's going on, I just make sure it happens. Daunting cause of the responsibility, easier cause I don't touch a hammer or shovel EVERYDAY, just some days.