Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-12-21, Page 66 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, December 21, 2016 A Christmas Story: A Chamber Christmas Mike O'Neill Contributor The Chamber of Com- merce held its November meeting early in the month so that any plans agreed to could be put into place before Christmas. Progress reports were presented and approved and most of the members shared their strat- egy to make some money this holiday season. Then it was time for the guest speaker. The members were quiet as a tall, strong -looking man strode confidently to the podium. He looked success- ful and prosperous from his spit -shined shoes and cus- tom suit to his perfect hair cut. He smiled out at his cap- tive audience and in a deep, clear voice he said "Thank you for inviting me here. If nothing else, I got a good cup of coffee." The members smiled and knew they were in the pres- ence of a pro. They were with a man who knew how to put a customer at ease very quickly and a man with the ability to close a sale. They prepared to listen intently. "I'd like to tell you a story" he began. "About twenty years ago my area experi- enced a building boom. We are cement heads, as they call us, foundations, side- walks, just about anything concrete, we do. It was get- ting late in the year and we were being pushed by con- tractors, owners, the Minis- try of Labour and just about anybody else you could think of. I'd been on my own for about five years and was doing well, in my eyes at least. The year had been a bit of a challenge though. I'd turned over half my crew. Now, as most of you know, cement work is very physi- cal. But it is also a lot of intu- ition and judgement. When to trowel? When to add cal- cium? Is the weather going to co-operate? And so on. I can teach a lot of this stuff, but the guy has to want to learn it. There seemed to be a serious lack of desire in the next generation. So there was a big turn over in help. I paid more. But it seemed the more I paid, the less they wanted to work. Except for Thomas. "Let me tell you a bit about Thomas. He was a full six -six, two hundred and seventy pounds if an ounce and wouldn't say a bad thing about anybody. He was about forty, and the only man I've met who could out- work me. He'd hired on in June and I'd trusted him to run jobs on his own by the end of September. We got along well and he seemed like a keeper. "So knowing that about him, and how the year was going, you might be able to understand my surprise when he came into the office about two in the afternoon that Christmas Eve. "Puzzled, I asked him how it was going and whether or not the forms were set up on the Kruger house and he said simply 'I sent the boys home at noon."' "Well sir, I nearly had a fit. I remember yelling at him something about 'Don't you know we're going to pour on Boxing Day?' and things like 'This weather isn't going to hold' and carried on for some time. The language was a little stronger mind you. And I remember saying 'Who do you think you are?' and finished up with some- thing like 'Who said you could do that?' "I was standing now and almost ready to take a swing at him, this was going to cost me a lot of money and headaches and goodness knows what SAEEN )110BILITY and REGIONAL TRANSIT SPECIALIZED PUBLIC TRANSIT MENTALLY & PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED RESIDENTS NON -EMERGENCY MEDICAL, SOCIAL & EMPLOYMENT LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE 519-881-2504 1-866-981-2504 Please visit us at saugeenmobility.ca all. He looked full into my face and...Oh, yeah; I have to mention his voice. It was like it came from the bottom of a barrel. I can't really do it justice, like Tennessee Ernie Ford's, only fuller. Anyway, he looked me square on and said 'Who do you work for?' "I said 'I work for ME! I'm the one who has to pay the bills around here, I'm the one who built this company up and get the work and buy the trucks and pay the taxes and...Where do YOU get off telling the guys they could go home?' I was spit- ting nails, I tell you. He just said simply 'I work for my family. I work WITH you, but FOR my family. All of what you said is true, and you're very good at it. But if your Maker called you home tonight, who would miss you? In five years, who would care the most that you were gone?' "Well, what do you say to that? I did some thinking, but I was still mad. I told Thomas to get out and he'd better be here Boxing Day morning. He said 'No' that he'd given the men the week between Christmas and New Years off and that he'd be back then. I fired him. "I set about trying to undo what he'd done. First I called the crew. To a man they said that Thomas told them what to expect and to wish me a Merry Christmas when I called. To a man they said that they wanted to keep working with me but not at the expense of their families. To me it was crap. Their families had what they had because of me. I was the one who signed the cheques. We worked all winter because I built a reputation for get- ting work done right. The ungrateful wretches. I was winding down. You can only bang your head on the wall so long before you get sore. I just locked up and went home for a good stiff drink. "I got home somewhere close to four o'clock. I have three boys, the oldest about ten back then. They thought something was wrong and they were in trouble for it. But my wife, bless her, just dropped what she was doing and made a run and jumped into my arms like I was a returning hero. I can- not tell you how good that felt. The boys got into the spirit and we really had a good time. I even helped around the house and I don't know what all. But, I remember that I never thought once about business. "My family actually talked me into going to church that Christmas Eve. We sat about half way back in the outside row. As the carols were sung and the preacher droned on for a long time, I became inter- ested in the stained glass window beside me. It OPP participating in province -wide Huron County OPP is have launched this year's reminding motorists and "Lock It OR Lose It" cam - passengers to "Lock it OR paign during the holiday Lose it" when it comes to season because it's easy to their vehicles and valuables be distracted and leave as part of the Ontario Asso- vehicles unlocked or valua- ciation of Chiefs of Police's bles in plain sight during (OACP) annual "Lock It OR t h e h o l i d ay Lose It" campaign. hustle -and -bustle. Ontario police services During the "Lock It OR depicted a strong young man who it appeared, was a worker. I looked long and hard. There was something about it that I just couldn't put my finger on. I let it slide and we went back home. The kids went to bed and Mary and I set about attacking the assembly that was required. Now, I'm pretty handy with tools and Mary has told me that I'm not a lot of fun to work with. But that night it was different. Mary gave sug- gestions and I worked WITH her and we laughed like kids and had a great time. The next day was the best Christmas Day we had had up until then. It felt good. "So, I learned something. I gave my family the gift of time. MY time. And it was more for me, I'm sure. I had some time between Christ- mas and New Years to do some heavy thinking. It just came to me that while I could replace every one of the workers, they could also replace me. It was then Submitted that I began to think of the men as part of families, not workers only. I began to formulate a strategy. I didn't know how it would work yet, but come January second we'd all get together and revisit the labour situa- tion. All the while I had in the back of my mind that stained glass window. "Well, to make a long story short, we came up with a plan. It didn't always go smoothly, I can assure you. We lost some business, but we gained more. We worked hard, very hard to make a company that slowly morphed into a fam- ily. In those twenty years since that Christmas, all three of my boys joined the company. All three have their own homes and fami- lies that they spend time with. And I get to spoil their children. But here's the thing: we never saw Thomas again. Except in that stained glass window. It portrayed St. Thomas the Apostle, patron saint of construction." "LOCK IT OR LOSE IT" campaign Lose It" campaign, police officers and auxiliary offic- ers will be checking vehi- cles throughout various centres in Huron County to confirm vehicles are locked and that no valuables have been left in plain view. Members will place a small notice on vehicles checked indicating what safety precautions were neglected and offer simple prevention tips for drivers to protect their vehicles against theft. The notices also con- gratulate drivers who have secured their vehicle. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7