JOURNEY MAN
A Carpenter’s Story
By Daniel Foster

GOOD MORNING

There are different ways to undertake the process of remodeling.  Almost without exception my remodeling experiences have been on projects where the clients remained living in their house while we remodeled around them.  We would try to ease the pain, often creating temporary kitchens for them while we tore the old one apart, for example, but it was usually a trying time for the residents in one way or another and always they were surrounded by the ongoing project, the dust, the noise and the workers.

There is a closeness that takes place, whether one likes it or not.  Sometimes it seems a bit too close.

One of my clients had been sitting on the throne in the bathroom when he heard a ladder being set up just outside the bathroom window by a roofer who was heading up to do some work on the area above the bath.  Dave saw one of the roofer’s hands appear on a rung and then the other and then the roofer’s face, looking in, his eyes meeting Dave’s gaze.

I’ve had some moments of a similar nature, though not quite on par with this one.  My usual response is to pretend I haven’t seen anything or express some kind of apology as I look away.

I have to admire this roofer’s approach.  He didn’t look away or mutter apologies.  He looked straight at Dave and waved.  And then he continued on his way on his way up.