When you work out of town, nothing is the same. You are away from your loved ones and even on the best days, you can feel a little empty inside. I can tell you that in 23 years, Edwardsport was a once in a lifetime experience. The conditions were excellent, and it seemed as if you could just open your pockets and collect the money. Any meal can taste good when you are hungry and we had all been looking for work for a long time. All the guys in our crew looked out for each other. We all became good friends, that is all of us except for Greg. Greg had other plans in mind.

When you take a call outside your home local, you must know this job is temporary. When a union contractor is awarded a job, they agree to fulfill the contract. The beauty of a union contractor is that they can supply man power for the job from all over the country. Every journeymen gets the same quality training so when a contractor hires someone, they pretty much know what they are getting. A smaller local, with less members may pull workers from book 2, Travelers that are seeking work outside their local union hall. Once the job is done, book 2 members will be the first to get laid off.

Greg saw each employee as a threat. We all wanted to keep a job as long as possible. Everyone at some point in their career has heard the expression, “We are here to make money not friends”, but Greg took this to the next level. The rest of us had the mindset that we were all there to take care of our families back home. No one wanted to leave their families for work, so we made the best of the situation. If laughter is the best medicine, we were prescribed high doses. The jokes we shared helped ease the pain from being hours away from home. Greg on the other hand, would crush your spirit if you let him. The only names that end up on the porta let walls were assholes on the job. Greg had porta let walls dedicated to him.

Another thing I should tell you about Greg is that he was the worst kind of storyteller. Greg was a Topper. If you said you caught a 10 pound Bass, Greg had caught a 15 pound Bass. We all embellish when we tell stories, it’s just that his embellishments were much taller and broader than himself. Greg would brag and boast, but no one bought into his bullshit. Greg would talk about his hunting trips in The U.P. or his fishing trips on the great lakes. He would yammer on and on.

One day at lunch, Greg started in on another story. Everyone in the trailer put their heads down as if they were asleep. Todd and I had already made eye contact with Greg, and I suppose we were too polite to not listen.

“You know Todd, ten years ago my friends and I took a boat out on Lake Superior”, Greg began.

I looked over and Todd had on a brave smile, ” Another fishing trip?” Greg continued his story. I looked around the trailer and knew it was too late to join the crew, so I kept on listening.

“It was getting late in the day and I saw the clouds roll in. I told my friend it was time to turn back but he refused to listen. He wasn’t going back until he caught one more fish. I tried to warn him again and then it began to storm. The waves were rocking the bowt and I knew we were in trouble!”

Todd and I began to lean in as Greg continued to tell his story. ” The waves were getting bigger as they crashed onto the boat. We tossed and turned until the boat overturned in the water and then….”

Before Greg could get another word in, I excitedly said, ” What happened next Greg! Did you make it?” The entire trailer roared in laughter. Greg was pissed, “No Jim, this is the part where we all died.”

Todd was snickering and I was laughing so hard I had to excuse myself from the trailer. I was tearing up and I had to catch my breath. As I calmed myself down, I thought to myself I got him. This was the day I caught The Grey Fox of Saginaw. From then on Greg tried to be more tolerable to the crew. And as for me, well I have this great story to tell.

I’ll see you on the next one.