Have you ever crossed the Golden Gate bridge and wondered who built it? Ironworkers built it! Without them, we wouldn’t have skyscrapers, bridges, office buildings, and many more. I’ve had the privilege to have grown up with a father that was in the trade for as long as I have lived on this planet. Throughout my childhood I was always scared of the dangerous conditions my dad had to face at his workplace. He has worked everywhere, from Petco Park, Coronado Bridge, trolley stations, San Onofre power plant, to buildings I had no idea existed until we passed by them and he would point them out.
My dad belongs to Local 229, which is the local that pertains to San Diego county. He has worked night shifts, day shifts, morning shifts from 8 to 13 hours a day. Sometimes he would work 7 days in a row 12 hours a day and finally take the 8th day off.
What I’ve learned from being an Ironworker’s son has benefited me now that I’m living on my own 500+ miles away from home. What have I learned? The list is endless. But some of the major things that are worthy of pointing out have helped me get through situations that ended up saving me some time or have gotten me out of tough situations. The most obvious one, and probably one of the most important ones is the knowledge of tools. Besides being an Ironworker, my dad is practically a handyman. He knows how to fix everything. And having those two qualities has helped me fix almost anything that wrecks. I’ll tell you, there have been situations where nobody around me knew how to use a tool and I would come through with my tool box (that my dad prepared for me before I left to college) to rescue the day. The situations are endless, but one of my favorite ones was when I would help fix bikes my freshman year of college. People knew I had a tool box and they would come to me to let them borrow a few tools. Once in a while I would get jealous when somebody else knew how to fix something I didn’t. I would later call my dad and ask him to teach me how to fix it later when I see him.
While knowing how to use tools (and the names behind them) has been beneficial to me, being creative while fixing something is something noteworthy. Like I mentioned, my dad is like a handyman, he can fix anything. I picked up from him throughout the years and they have stuck to me. This led to my creativity and problem-solving skills. I was always intrigued by the things he would do, so I decided to learn as many life hacks as possible. Now I know how to survive in the wild, during a power outage, during an awkward situation, during a fire, cold/hot day, etc. It has helped me so much. One of my favorite life hacks has to do with batteries. You know those times when you run out of AA batteries? Sucks huh? You can actually fix that problem as long as you have aluminum foil. All you have to do is get a chunk and roll it up in the shape of a battery (you can use your battery to mold it precisely) and then stick it in there. My other favorite life hack is making a candle out of an orange. All you do is peel an orange a certain way to where you leave the middle piece that connects from the top to the bottom of the orange on there, along with the base peel of the orange to create a small cup. This cup will become your pool of oil. You are supposed to soak up the peel and the wick that you create out of the middle part of the orange with a lot of oil and then light it on fire. Pretty fun… And it smells good…
I’m fortunate enough to have grown up with an Ironworker in my family. Besides learning about tools, I also learned that hard work pays off, and that it’s absolutely difficult, but doable. Waking up at 3AM sometimes to drive 2.5 hours to work is not easy. Doing it for your family is what moves you. Seeing my dad get injured, come home with dirty hands, ripped shirts, ripped pants, dirty boots, and sweaty shirts has inspired me to work hard even if sweat, tears, or blood comes out. I am grateful to call him my dad, and I hope to pass on this knowledge to my children in the future.
