1997 Wegman's Ithaca

After a month off, another job opened up at the Wegmans Store in Ithaca. It was being built right next to an existing Wegmans that apparently was built improperly so that it was sinking into the swamp area of South Ithaca. This job was one of those ones that look like it should be a great job but due to the personalities on the job it really wasn’t. There was one guy who was just so whiney! We called him the bitter fitter. We all wanted to work 4-10’s, but he wouldn’t let us as it was working contrary to the contract. There was another who was such a pervert. One day he left a wire sculpture depicting two figures having anal sex at my seat at the lunch table. I picked it up and tossed it in the trash without comment. We called him the BugFucker. Naturally I was partnered with him to install hangers. Wegman stores take enormous quantities of refrigeration piping. The hangers have to be pitched plus the roof is pitched. With hangers being about 8’ apart, you had to cut each hanger about 2” different than the one before or after. This concept was beyond this guy’s understanding, so he would cut “about” measurements that would wind up way too short or way too long. When I got frustrated he would say, “What does it matter? It’s all time and material. They pay us to do it again.” He was one of the few fitters I ever worked with that truly set a bad example for the union. He also rammed me one time while on a lift and laughed about it. After that I refused to work with him. A week later, the foreman came over with my paycheck and handed me two. I thought I was being laid off, but he said that it was the BF’s since obviously I had been carrying him for weeks. Too bad he made me give the extra check back! We started to fall behind, but the guys refused to work overtime. So my boss had to put a second shift on for a few weeks. I quickly volunteered, just to get away from that crew. Six guys were hired. Five came down from Syracuse. One came up from Elmira. Larry B was really a welder, but still a good guy and mechanic. At his request, we started car pooling. At least twice a week we would end up closing down the Alpine Inn. Usually it was just us and the bartender. Ken was not pleased to say the least! For probably the first time, I was definitely the best worker on the job. I had worked so many Wegmans that I had more experience than the others. I was able to work faster with fewer mistakes. The last night everyone was being laid off except me who was going back to day shift for the last few weeks. There wasn’t anything to do on the job, so the boss told us to take a long break at the Eagles Club which was within walking distance. The break lasted about 3 hours. When the boss didn’t join us, the other guys asked me to go over to find out what was happening. As it turned out the big wigs had come down from Rochester. There stood my boss with no crew! He was not happy with us, but it wasn’t our fault. I met that boss again on another job. We laughed about it or at least I did. I stayed there until the day they opened. One of the fun things about my job is that I get to go into all these places and point out my work.