Friday, September 11, 2009- PATRIOT DAY
Roofing 9-11
It was a beautiful day in downtown Boston, Bowdoin Square to be exact. The building was now called the Verizon Building, which housed offices and communication systems. It had previously been one of the original Sears Roebuck buildings that was eventually closed and sold. It had, I think, about 15 floors and we were at the very top stripping off the roof and installing a new one.
The first rule of roofing is “never leave an occupied building exposed to the weather”, so when Vinny, the project boss for Gilbane Construction came up on the roof that day and said to pack up our tools and leave, we were all quite perplexed. After a few long seconds, as the roofing gaffer, I spoke up, “we can’t leave, the roof is wide open”; meaning that we had removed all the roof materials, leaving the building susceptible to water damage, if it were to rain. Roofing can be a funny occupation, as physically demanding as it is, when the guy you’re working for tells you to go home early, you’d think everyone would take him up on it. But we were a bunch of responsible guys concerned about the welfare of the people and equipment inside the building. “We won’t leave until the roof is weatherproof”, I reiterated while thinking, at the same time, about a possible law suit brought on by some misunderstanding.
“You’ve got no choice”, said Vinny, “it was just announced on the radio that everyone in Boston must evacuate immediately.” There was nothing to misunderstand; he was now getting his message across, although we still didn’t comprehend what was happening. “I don’t know anything more other than something happened in New York City”, he added, “I’m leaving and you gotta leave now too” and with that he climbed down the ladder leaving the roof.
We were dumbfounded. For the first time in 32 years of roofing I would tell my fellow roofers that we were leaving a roof unfinished, and a building exposed to the elements and possible damage. As we all descended from the upper floors, there was quiet confusion at what was transpiring. All the way home, the traffic was as it usually is during rush hour, only it wasn’t rush hour. Because of that, I don’t think I processed the severity of the situation until I arrived home.
When I walked through the door at home, my wife, not the least surprised to see me, told me to watch television. The first visual was of a plane flying into the World Trade Center. I thought it was fake and remember asking my wife if it was real or some type of movie scene. She said it was real. We both sat transfixed for the next few hours, as everyone in America did, watching the events of September 11, 2001 transpire. I had just left a high rise building in the heart of the city, not unlike those people stuck in the Twin Towers. All I could think of was how I would have felt if I had been trapped on the roof of the Verizon Building.
Although most people did not return to work for a couple of days, we were called back the next day to complete the roof. Everything went well, but it didn’t seem important anymore. The ensuing days would speak for themselves regarding the tragedy on that day as we learned of the thousands that died. The second rule of roofing is replace the first rule with “cherish every day you’re on the roof”.
POSTED BY STAN on September 11, 2009
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