Had to choose between a lift and a lunch break yesterday

Site super wanted me to hoist a 2 ton AC unit right at noon but my stomach was screaming louder than the crane. I grabbed my sandwich and made him wait 20 minutes - got a dirty look but the burrito was worth it. Anyone else ever pick food over the boss's schedule?

3 comments

3 Comments

maxm631mo agoTop Commenter

James, you say "communicate ahead of time" but you don't know what the site was like. Sometimes the boss springs that stuff on you last second and you either eat or your blood sugar tanks and someone gets hurt. I've been in painting for years and if my stomach is empty I make mistakes and that costs way more than twenty minutes of crane time. A guy has to look out for his own body first because no boss is gonna pay for your medical bills if you pass out from skipping lunch. You run a moving crew so you should know that a hungry worker is a slow worker no matter how you slice it.

finley_lopez981mo ago

Gotta eat, man. Bosses act like we're robots but your body doesn't care about their schedule. I once told my foreman I'd rather eat cold pizza than listen to him rant about a job site delay. Totally worth it.

james_martin931mo ago

You're making a bigger deal out of 20 minutes than it really is. A good worker communicates ahead of time instead of just disappearing when the crane is ready. I run a moving crew and if one of my guys pulled that without a heads up, we'd be losing money on the whole job because the lift rental runs by the hour. That burrito cost you more than you think when you add up the crane time and the boss being pissed the rest of the day.