Another construction work story

Here's another story about a construction job I worked on. The stories here and here are from another construction job I'd been on. This was going to be one of the nicer jobs I'd had. It was close to home (most of the other jobs I'd been on were over an hour's drive from home). Also, it was on a small machine, a Gradall pictured here, which was relatively easy to maintain. The name is a brand name and comes from its usual job: grading almost anything. It could move and smooth soil at almost any angle. The job I was working on was a new road and heavier equipment would move most of the dirt into place. The Gradall would just be used to even up the edges so that grass or some other plants could be used to help hold the dirt in place.

When I started on the job, the road was well under way and the operator of the machine was cleaning up after the hard work. I could tell he didn't like me from the beginning but I couldn't help that. My job, as usual for an oiler, was to drive the Gradall where it was needed and keep it in good condition by greasing the fittings when the machine was idle. We worked in one place most of the morning and I only needed to make small moves. But at lunch time, I was going to be moving the machine further back down the shoulder of the road. There was about a ten foot drop off into the woods from the shoulder of the road which was wide enough to hold the machine - but just barely. I was going to have to back up the machine with little room for error but I figured I'd done it before with bigger machines. As the operator and everyone else walked off for lunch (the oiler always worked during lunch and I knew I'd get to eat later), I started to back up but there were no rear-view mirrors!

The operator should have never put me in that situation and if I'd been more assertive, I'd have either waited until he got back from lunch to help or insisted on someone else to give me signals in place of the missing mirrors. But I was trying to fit in and be a regular guy so I gave it a go. I'd back up a bit and then get out and look around. It was taking forever and I could see the guys at lunch laughing and pointing. So, I started to back up longer before looking around. After a while, though, I realized that the machine was slipping off the shoulder. I started to move forward but I couldn't and the machine was tilting more and more.

Finally, the operator came running up to the machine and pushed the boom and the bucket over the side to keep us from sliding over as I moved forward to get traction. Then, as I started to back up, men who were returning from lunch gave me signals and I was able to get the Gradall back where they wanted it. As I got out to get my lunch, the operator yelled that the boss wanted to see me first. The boss handed me my check and told me that was it. I'd been fired for the first and only time in my life. In spite of the fact that I could have gone to the Union and complained about the unsafe machine, I felt horrible. It taught me a real lesson, though, about the need to stick up for what is right. I shouldn't have tried to drive that machine without the proper rear-view mirrors.