The Right Man for the Job?

"Never let one piece of glass touch another, because it will explode" was one of the first sentences I heard in my new job at a glass painters. Gulp. This was going to be stressful. "And each piece is worth 400 dollars". Another gulp.

The glass painters was the business of just one man (he had to do away with his one employer earlier this year) and this was the busiest time of his year. This week, he had been starting work at 5.30am and not finishing until after 7pm. And this was tough work, on his feet all day, working carefully and thoroughly with glass. Then on Thursday, with work already piling up, someone rang needing some glass painted for Monday. How on earth was he going to get it done?

The answer wore ridiculous sunglasses and had a big forehand but no skill at using his hands. Stepping into the factory, I felt like the youth team goalkeeper, only on the bench because the regular reserve keeper is injured, being thrust into the action as the first choice has been sent off and having to immediately save a penalty. The work was not complicated - mostly cleaning and moving big sheets of glass - but it was very challenging for me. I am not experienced or good at this kind of thing and I had to be very careful not to break or scratch the glass. Furthermore, the jobs had to be done exactly like my employer did and to a high quality, which was difficult because with no employees he was used to only his own methods and he had 40 years more experience than me. Finally, the jobs had tricky little variations and given the workload I had to work at an adequate speed. It was a lot of pressure and I struggled throughout the day, testing both my will and my employer's patience. However, I wanted this trip to be about much more than soaking up sun and drinking in far off lands, so my Friday night was an early night and I agreed to continue working at 7.30am on Saturday.

It was a new day but I wasn't getting much better. I was not the right man for the job. The glass painter was a nice guy, but he was over worked and at one point got quite frustrated after I made a  mistake. Perseverance is the name of my game though, and by the end of the day's work I'd made some good progress and we were getting on well. 

My two days work at the glass painters were far from enjoyable, but 'no dramas' as they say over here - I will take a nap, then soak up the sun and drink some beers.