Ummm, that would be me, as I was about to learn.

Every fall for as long as the old-timers could remember, the construction industry in our tiny New England state practiced the ritual of the mass layoff. As cold weather moved in, and work outside became more difficult, the ranks of the employed dwindled and the ranks of unemployed swelled. Winter is a hard time to be without income: Winds howl and swirl, working their way into the cracks of homes, forcing heating bills up and squeezing grocery budgets out.

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat!  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.  But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"  ---Numbers 11:4-6

 

     Every fall for as long as the old-timers could remember, the construction industry in our tiny New England state practiced the ritual of the mass layoff.  As cold weather moved in, and work outside became more difficult, the ranks of the employed dwindled and the ranks of unemployed swelled.  Winter is a hard time to be without income: Winds howl and swirl, working their way into the cracks of homes, forcing heating bills up and squeezing grocery budgets out.

 

     Every spring for as long as the old-timers could remember, the construction industry in our tiny New England state practiced the ritual of the rush-to-hire.  Companies with work already on the books grabbed up the best carpenters, laborers, drivers, and rebar workers.  Companies who were slow out of the winter gate often found themselves selecting from a batch of inexperienced workers or having to make do with less-skilled and sometimes troublesome workers. 

 

     Fortunately, my first job in that state was with an owner willing to take risks and be innovative.  We broke from the fall and spring rituals. Selecting seventy workers with excellent track records in skill, safety, attendance and productivity, we promised them year-round employment in an experiment designed to drive down workers' compensation claims (which always spiked just before layoff season), and drive up productivity (which always got worse as jobs came to a close in the fall.).  The quality of the workforce no longer depended on how quickly we could make offers in the spring. 

 

     The experiment was a huge success.  Productivity shot up, and profits did, too, as our labor costs consistently came in under budget, the result of the skill and efficiency of the seventy core workers.  As fall approached, the estimating department won us enough indoor bids to keep the crews going through the winter.  Workplace accidents and injuries dropped dramatically, also, mostly because the crews were now more experienced and skilled.

 

     When things got tight the second winter, we were still able to keep our promise of full employment.  For the seasonal employees we added on top of the core of seventy, we struck a deal with the ski industry, giving another group of workers year-round employment by trading them back and forth.  With the ski industry needing them in winter and construction needing them in the summer, everyone profited from the partnership. 

 

     In the fourth year, when a serious recession hit the state (and especially construction in the state), we struck a deal with the Department of Labor.  Splitting our workforces into two teams, each team worked twenty hours and then collected 50% of the unemployment.  After taxes, this meant the average worker took home just under $30.00/week less than when they were working full time.  We got to keep our skilled workforce and they got to keep their benefits on top of their jobs. 

 

     Sounds like one big, happy family, right?

 

     Well-l-l-l-----

 

     Actually, the men and women on those construction crews were some of the finest people I've ever known.  Candid, likeable, and incredibly hardworking, they also found ways to be funny, complex and thoughtful.  Most of the time---

 

     The Thanksgiving of our third year, things were really tight.  We decided to forego the tradition of giving every employee a turkey for the holidays, thinking they would surely understand since we had kept our no-layoff promises.

 

     How WRONG we were!  In all my years as a human resource manager, I never remember any employee group being more upset than those workers were that Thanksgiving.  "Where's the turkey" became the new way to say "What have you done for me, lately?"

 

     At first, I was angry, even outraged.  How dare they, I thought to myself.  The darker side of me wanted to punish them for their short memories.

 

     But it didn't take long for me to realize they were just being human; just like the Israelites, whining about "only having manna" to eat during their trek to the Promised Land.  It also didn't take me long to discover I've got an equally short memory.

 

     For most of my adult life, I've had a ready list of things I felt I needed from God.  The "petition" part of my prayer time has always lasted longer than the "praise" portion.  Often, I forget to thank Him for the steady gifts He gives me: Children; healthy children; a loving spouse; a long-suffering loving spouse; enough to eat, a safe place to sleep; the list goes on and on.  Important as those things are, they ALL pale in comparison to the work of the Cross and what it offers me.

 

    Occasionally, God surprises me by answering a long-term prayer and I delight in His goodness and promise myself I'll never take Him for granted again. But let just one need slip through the safety net, and it isn't long before I'm knocking on God's door asking Him in an ungrateful tone: "Where's my turkey?"

 

     In the beginning, God owed us absolutely nothing and offered us absolutely everything.  When we rejected Him, still owing us absolutely nothing, He sent His Son so we could have access again to absolutely everything.

 

     For a little while, He asks us to live this life not as whiners but workers; understanding there are trials and even great tragedies to be endured sometimes.  But He promises us life after life in a time and a place where we're called Overcomers and all the work we've done here bears fruit there.

 

     Where's the turkey?  Umm, that would be me, every time I forget You owe me absolutely nothing and still gave me life, here and there.

 

--Randy Kilgore

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