The landlord is having the house reroofed today so made lunch for the workers. Pork shoulder smoked over night, bbq beans and a fresh crisp cole slaw.



Lots of smiling faces. As a construction worker you remember the generosity of a home owner.

Funny - I've done that twice, both times with the reaction you noted. Both were painter crews. I was out of town when our roof was done in TX or would have done then, too!

I'm sure that's a treat. I think your personality just comes across with an offer like that. I wouldn't think of doing that myself.

That looks delicious. My mom always made something for people doing work for us and I still try to as well.

My mom is also the lady that brings cold bottled water to the trash guys on really hot days.

Small acts of kindness mean so much to people, especially when they're not used to it.

I spent a summer in high school building swimming pools. I did above ground so we were at a different house every day. Only twice did the owners offer lunch. One dude grilled venison burgers for us that were absolutely amazing. I don’t remember what the other family did for food but I damn sure remember sitting at their picnic table with their cute daughter who was about my age.

I take workers drinks all the time, and I don't even own my place, it's an Apt.


When I was 9 y.o. , they were putting in a new , giant ( 48 inch. i.d.) sewer line , up my street.

I watched that track hoe guy for about three hours .

the next day mom called me in to the kitchen at about 6:00 a.m.

she had made a plate of 3 eggs, hash browns and bacon and a couple of slices of tomato.

she told me to take it to the track hoe guy , with a big cup of coffee.

you should have seen the 7 other workers heads spin

I sat back up in my yard and waited for the work to begin.
all the men took a break while Kelly scarfed up the breakfast.

I was just getting ready to go find some trouble to get in too , when Kelly waved me over.

another fella lifted me up on to the tracks,
and kelly told me to stand behind his seat and watch.

He dug the big bucket in to the earth and swung it around, and flipped the dirt out,
then he had to put some gravel on the bottom so he swung the long arm around to get a load of gravel,

then he had them put a chain on the bucket with a bolt on the end .

he placed the bucket close to a concrete tube and the man stuck the bolt through a hole in the top of the cylinder, while another fella sun a giant washer and nut on the bolt.

to lift the giant tube in to the ditch

When I had the floors in my home re-done, I brought the guys breakfast and lunch. I'm not the type to be unusually generous to essentially strangers, but I want people working on/in my home to like me. I figure maybe it'll make them a little more likely be conscientious.

We had a shitty contractor once that got his workers from Home Depot. During the middle of the summer, he didn't even give them water or food. He just dropped them off with basic instructions. We gave them cold water and food from McDonalds. That guy was a piece of shit.

Dad once told me to "Remember the little guys, because some day, that could be you." By "little", he was referring to the workers. He also told me to treat everyone like you would like to be treated. Both have served me well.

I always offer workers in my house/yard food and drinks, it's the polite thing to do.

Pro tip, from a contractor. Do it, you may save yourself $50. If a nice customer asks me to do something above what's agreed upon and it takes very little time then I don't charge, if they are rude then I will nickle and dime them.

I've bought a few pizzas and a few buckets of KFC chicken, but never cooked for them. That's a great gesture.

My wife does similar, less cooking, but more like "tipping" Most recently she gave the tree service crew, $10 apiece for lunch, working for the power company taking a tree down in the right of way adjacent to our house. They were working in a freezing rain, it was well appreciated.

We've always provided a cooler with lots of ice and bottles of water and some pop. If they have their own gallons of water I'd bring them another cooler with ice so they could put their water in. If it was summer I'd also run the hose over so they could rinse off if they wanted to.

I never brought them lunch since I didn't know when they wanted to break (some guys don't - just eat as they can).

Providing a spread like that is really nice!

Shawn

It always pays to provide those workers with drinks and chow.

Plus it is a nice thing to do. Those guys aren't usually overburdened with money.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Dad once told me to "Remember the little guys, because some day, that could be you." By "little", he was referring to the workers. He also told me to treat everyone like you would like to be treated. Both have served me well.

This a day long, we're likely to be generous tippers, when we eat out. I'm mindful that service work is a tough way to earn a living.
And at this point of our lives, caring for elderly parents, we have been more exposed to the "working poor", and have been able, we hope, to be more empathetic, and be responsive when some of my Mother in law's caregivers have been in a financial squeeze.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Dad once told me to "Remember the little guys, because some day, that could be you." By "little", he was referring to the workers. He also told me to treat everyone like you would like to be treated. Both have served me well.

My dad said the same to me and my brothers however, the shortest of us is 6'6"

When I was starting out in the tree business, it was just me and my helper. We finished an all day job and were getting ready to make our hour long trip home through Washington D.C. traffic when the homeowner offers us dinner. He didn’t just fix us a plate, but asked us to join his family at their dinner table. That was 27 years ago.

When I was growing up, my mom would always make lunch and offer drinks to people that worked around our house.

I sent a smoked pork butt home with one of the guys doing the tile during our remodel. He was to share with the crew as they were all friends.
He kept it all for himself.

I have had clients bring meals occasionally in my business.

Yeah, a meal / pizza / sodas / beer (when the job is finished) can go a long way.