Get ready to cry me a river boys.
My dad was very old school. At one point I was offered a summer job as a lifeguard. My dad wouldn't let me take the job because it wasn't "real work".
Starting at age 13, I spent every summer on a road crew laying asphalt. It was a small company with a crew of 6. No way to hide and avoid labor for a few minutes. The older men ran the heavy equipment while us youngsters manned shovels all day. No gloves were allowed because of the fear of getting caught in machinery, so my hands bled for the first two weeks of every summer.
Asphalt comes off the truck at 280 degrees. When you walk on it, it will melt the glue in your shoes. Summertime temps were usually 90-100.
When I was 16, a truck driver dumped his load in the wrong place. My friend and I shoveled 6 tons of hot asphalt back onto the truck in 4 hours.
To this day the smell of asphalt makes me sick.
Got to thank my dad, though. He forced me to see what my life might be like if I didn't achieve success in school.
