This past week I had the opportunity to watch, assist, and learn from a master carpenter as he decked part of our attic. That morning, as I waited for the handyman to arrive, I was expecting a man who couldn’t get a better job and was stuck cutting pieces of wood for a living. Instead, a retired master carpenter, who spend over a decade building houses prior to becoming a handyman showed up. However, I did not know this about him until we were talking thirty minutes later. We decided to bring all of the materials up to the attic and then shape and install them all up there, so that we would spend less time going back and forth between the garage and the attic. I wondered how this “handyman” would do a good job creating a floor out of wood in the attic, in such a tight space, without a table or even a flat surface. However, as soon as we got everything up the ladder, he immediately started cutting the wood with a handsaw, propped up against his boot with perfect precision. At first I assumed it was just he had been doing this long enough that he could cut a straight line easily. Then he started shaping it to go around pipes and cords and support beams quickly and with perfect precision. Once we got talking he explained to me his impressive past in carpentry and why he was where he was in life.
I hadn’t ever judged him for who he appeared to be or for his profession, but I had no idea that anyone could be that good at carpentry. I learned that although he may struggle financially from time to time, or may have greater risk for workplace injury, he had something that he did for a living and had mastered, which is much more than many desk workers can say.
J. Fletcher Brown 