"So God Made a Pipefitter"
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:13 pm
"So God Made a Pipefitter"
by Steven Biars
And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a tradesman." So God made a pipefitter.
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, drive two hours to work, work all day in the plant, drive two hours again, eat a cold supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the union hall." So God made a pipefitter.
"I need somebody with strong arms. Strong enough to carry thick walled pipe, yet gentle enough to TIG weld a soda can. Somebody to rile up the boilermakers, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry because he worked through lunch, kiss his frustrated wife, tell her he loves her… and mean it." So God made a pipefitter.
God said, "I need somebody willing to stay up all night if the union needs it, switch to day turn at a moments notice, and forget about sleep. Then rub his eyes and say, 'Maybe next week.' I need somebody who can weld 6G blind, fabricate a pipe hanger from a hunk of scrap steel, who can conjure miracles with a pipe wrench, grinder, and a stinger. Who, at plant shutdown, will finish his forty hour week by Wednesday noon. Then, pain’n from “plumbers knees”, put in another seventy two hours." So God made a pipefitter.
God had to have somebody who could run a hot pass at double speed, to get a section done ahead of hydro and xray and yet stop mid-weld and race to help when he sees an apprentice about to make a costly mistake. So God made a pipefitter.
God said, "I need somebody strong enough to separate rusted flanges and remove rusty bolts, yet gentle enough to maintain composure when the damned thing snaps off. Someone who will stop his crew for an hour to keep them safe. It had to be somebody who'd weld deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to measure, mark, cut, grind and bevel and solder and weld MIG and TIG and ARC, and place the hangers, and replenish the rod-oven and finish a hard week's work with a twenty-five mile drive to the pub.
"Somebody who'd weld a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a pipefitter.
by Steven Biars
And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a tradesman." So God made a pipefitter.
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, drive two hours to work, work all day in the plant, drive two hours again, eat a cold supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the union hall." So God made a pipefitter.
"I need somebody with strong arms. Strong enough to carry thick walled pipe, yet gentle enough to TIG weld a soda can. Somebody to rile up the boilermakers, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry because he worked through lunch, kiss his frustrated wife, tell her he loves her… and mean it." So God made a pipefitter.
God said, "I need somebody willing to stay up all night if the union needs it, switch to day turn at a moments notice, and forget about sleep. Then rub his eyes and say, 'Maybe next week.' I need somebody who can weld 6G blind, fabricate a pipe hanger from a hunk of scrap steel, who can conjure miracles with a pipe wrench, grinder, and a stinger. Who, at plant shutdown, will finish his forty hour week by Wednesday noon. Then, pain’n from “plumbers knees”, put in another seventy two hours." So God made a pipefitter.
God had to have somebody who could run a hot pass at double speed, to get a section done ahead of hydro and xray and yet stop mid-weld and race to help when he sees an apprentice about to make a costly mistake. So God made a pipefitter.
God said, "I need somebody strong enough to separate rusted flanges and remove rusty bolts, yet gentle enough to maintain composure when the damned thing snaps off. Someone who will stop his crew for an hour to keep them safe. It had to be somebody who'd weld deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to measure, mark, cut, grind and bevel and solder and weld MIG and TIG and ARC, and place the hangers, and replenish the rod-oven and finish a hard week's work with a twenty-five mile drive to the pub.
"Somebody who'd weld a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a pipefitter.
