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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Why You Should Love Your Roofer

My men get up very early and brave all the elements Texas has to throw at them. Extreme heat and windy wet cold days make these men look like superheroes in comparison to Superman. They lift heavy buildings,albeit one heavy package at a time. Then they bleed.

When I was in college the roof mantra was"one every roof a little blood must be shed." we hoped for that adjective, a little. Sometimes it was so much we had to replace some of the roofing. No matter what part of the world you live in, the roofers are tough men that endure pain for breakfast. And after tearing off fiercely nailed product, carrying up tons of materials, and installing material on their knees, they must go back to the ground and pick up little pieces of old roofing and police the property with a magnet.

So when these real men are completing their day and cleaning up, show a little mercy. They'll get it all cleaned up without your complaining. Things take time. If they don't, yell at me and I'll make it happen, if I haven't already beaten you to the punch.

Anyone that sweats and bleeds for me, I love them. I admire them. This work is very hard. When I was a young man I loved it. The sweating, the tanning, the hard work, the exercise. But now I'm old and because I have an education I need not fall back on my back to earn a living.

The lesson here is that we are not immortal. We all are going to die and be judged. But if you don't get an education you might end up working for me and my respect. But it still hurts.

Go offer some cookies and water to the guys and they will consider you a saint. If you want to offer beer, wait until they are leaving. Most of them are married anyway and their wives have them domesticated.

If you find it funny that such tough men can be "mandelones," henpecked men, imagine really powerful men like Putin or Obama going home to their wives. Do you think they're so macho now. Wealthy power brokers and Asian warlords return to their abodes only to be told to carry out the trash and kill the spiders.

Even these 21st Century heavies have wives and just like them, when the roofers leave, they go home to wives and children to help. But nobody there knows how really tired they really are.

Some contractors, never having done the work, will sentence their roofers to steep roof after steep roof without a break. The legs turn to rubber and danger sets in. These slave drivers care little about the suffering of their men and even chisel their checks.

The main reason I started my business was because I wanted to be self employed and have the freedom of working outside in various locations. Every couple of days we were on a different roofing project. But the process was accelerated when Bill Cooper Construction ripped me off.

When I pulled up in front of the one layer tear off in Oak Cliff, part of south Dallas, I could see the unevenness of the multiple roof tear off. My contract called for $10.00 per square per layer of tear off plus install. After calling the office and informing them of the three layers and lack of felt paper on site they informed me they would pay.

They gave me $1.00 per square per layer, not enough to cover my dump fees or gas, and said the felt was my idea.

 To quote Aristotle, a man who hates you will avoid you but an angry man will throw himself at you with disregard for his own well being. you know the little guy in love fighting the big guy. The big guy might get a surprise.

I told Cooper that this would cost him more than it saved him. Afterward, when I saw a Cooper sign, I'd talk to all the neighbors and offer sweet deals for new roofs or maintenance. I'd put up a sign and spread fliers. His business drowned while I exhausted my youthful revenge. My motivation was strong for it was for all the little men out there, not just myself, who are taken advantage of by the big men.

All men are created equal, even the little guy. He has a soul, a vote, and a family that loves him. Treat him with respect and dignity and your own dignity will rise as a result.

Jon Alan Wright
Jon Wright Roofing, Siding, and Windows
1915 Peters Rd., Suite 310
Irving, TX 75061
972.251.1818 Office
214.718.3748 Cell
972.554.8090 Fax
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