Page 66 - Green Builder Sept-Oct 2019 Issue

FROM THE TAILGATE By Ron Jones

New Offerings for the Sustainable Minded

Let’s do what we say—and mean it

when we do

T IS NOT UNUSUAL NOWADAYS to read
an opinion piece written by someone who is
lamenting the loss of things we used to take
for granted, such as courtesy, good manners,
I consideration or professional behavior. It would
be easy to point to particular figures of prominence,
politicians, professional athletes, celebrities and so on,
and make them the targets of our dissatisfaction but
that wouldn’t be completely fair or honest.
There was a time, not that long ago, when you could
count on most people in the building business to extend
the expected level of professionalism in their dealings,
when you could actually depend on them to do what
they said they would do, when they said they would do
it. Unfortunately, those expectations no longer seem
realistic in many cases.
Recently, I met with a new masonry contractor who I
had been trying to connect with for a couple of months.
He had been recommended to me by several builders
and I just wanted him to take a look at a project of mine
to let me know if he was interested in the job. I had
reached out by phone and email numerous times and
was about to give up and move on when I finally got a
response. He expressed interest and agreed to give me
some lead time when he could connect with me.
Instead, I got a message late the night before from him
saying he would be in my area the following day. I had out-of-town time when I would have simply thanked him for coming and told him
meetings scheduled and responded that he would need to let me I would be looking elsewhere, but I have enough experience to know
know when he had another chance and suggested that a little more that I would probably just be teeing up a repeat with somebody new.
lead time would be helpful. What’s most frustrating is that the story I have just relayed
When we were finally able to connect, he was pleasant enough seems to be the norm; business as usual these days. It seems that
and followed me to the site of my project to have a look. He again all the instant communication at our fingertips has resulted less in
expressed interest in the work and offered to prepare a proposal streamlining our interactions, and instead provides a platform for
for me. He also asked when I wanted the work to take place, and I ignoring reasonable protocols and being less responsive than we
responded that I just needed it completed before we started getting really should be.
freezing temperatures. He chuckled and said, “Yeah, that’s what We’re all participants at one time or another. More than once, my
everybody is wanting now that summer is over.” editor has had to coax me to deliver a column, so I suppose what
I felt like reminding him that I had been trying to get him to look goes around comes around, as they say. I’ll try to give the masonry
at the job for many weeks, long before the change of seasons became contractor the benefit of the doubt. Still, I don’t have a lot of faith that
a concern, but I thought better of it and held my tongue. There was a the upcoming colder weather won’t render the conversation moot. GB

64 GREEN BUILDER September/October 2019 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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