It seems that the construction industry is,There are a lot of people with "strong personalities"That seems to be the general perception.
I don’t know where that rumor came from, but whenever I go out for drinks with friends and acquaintances from other industries, they often express concern, asking, “Aren’t a lot of people in the construction industry a bit too eccentric? Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
In my case, it’s been over five years since I entered the construction industry, so I’ve become completely accustomed to the environment and have absolutely no idea whether I’ve picked up any odd habits. You could say I’m in a state of numbness (laughs).
However, since my friends in other industries were so concerned, I decided to take a look back at the people I’ve met so far.
To my surprise, I realized that I, too, had met a lot of people with unique quirks (lol). Let me introduce some of the quirky (and interesting) people I’ve met so far.
A worker with the stamina of Ultraman
That person was a plasterer, but he could only keep going for three minutes (lol).
During the placement of ready-mix concrete, he was called in to hold down the top surface. I understand it was hot since it was summer, but after just three minutes, he started complaining that “he couldn’t lift his arms” and put down his trowel to take a break—the only one doing so.
Thinking he must have hurt his shoulder, I kept an eye on him, but even after an hour, then two hours had passed, he showed absolutely no sign of moving. Thinking, “Surely not…,” I asked him, and he replied flatly, “I’ve already hurt my shoulder today, so I have no intention of moving.”
In the end, thanks to the other workers who were working their butts off to keep things moving, there was no delay, but I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What the heck did you come here for?!”
A Craftsman Who Devoted His Life to Pachinko and Cigarettes
Every day around noon, there was a craftsman sleeping on a bench outside. No matter when I saw him, he never seemed to be eating lunch, so one day, out of curiosity, I asked him about it, and he replied, “I don’t have any money to buy lunch.”
As I listened to his story, it seemed he had spent his entire savings on pachinko this month and had run out of money for living expenses. When I asked if he could cook for himself, he said there wasn’t a single ingredient in the house.
However, after that, I started to wonder about it and watched him closely—and sure enough, he was smoking almost every day. When I asked him how he bought cigarettes, he said he spent all the money he had left over from pachinko on them.
According to him, “If I have to choose between quitting smoking and skipping a meal, skipping a meal is dozens of times better.” Between cigarettes and food, I’d think food would be the better choice, though…
The Guy Who Hides in the Restroom
I've even run into an older guy who spends the whole day holed up in the bathroom.
He loved alcohol so much that he would even open a can of beer and drink it right on the job site after work, but he had a sensitive stomach, and the day after he drank a lot, he would almost always end up with diarrhea.
Since he spent several hours a day in a portable toilet, people around him had nicknamed him “the toilet-bound guy.”
What's more, there's even a legend that a restroom exclusively for the "shut-in guy" was installed because when he locks himself in the portable toilet, no one else can use it.
The Foreman Who's Head Over Heels for the Female Dump Truck Driver
The foreman who looked after me back then had a pretty intimidating presence and was strict with everyone. He would yell so loudly that his voice echoed across the entire job site just because a ready-mix concrete truck was backing up poorly, and even people from other contractors were afraid of him.
However, he was incredibly kind to the female concrete mixer truck drivers who came by occasionally—he would even go out of his way to get off the heavy machinery he was operating just to direct them (lol). The first time I saw this, his personality had changed so drastically that I had to fight hard to keep from laughing.
――Even just looking back a little, it’s clear that the construction industry is full of people with “strong personalities.” But to put it another way, that just means there are a lot of interesting people with unique personalities.
There are a lot of people with unique personalities, so I never get bored—and above all, it’s fun. To me, the people in the construction industry with their own unique ways are like treasures.
