When you are working on a construction site, the project normally has a quality control company that test most of the things (concrete, asphalt, steel, dirt, welds, etc....) that contractors are doing. It's really a wise thing to do because most contractors will do everything they can do to cut corners.
Now take that to the next step... a government construction project. This gets a little trickier. Back in the day, Reagan changed a policy that since has let contractors pick their own quality control company. Now, if your doing test for the people that are paying you, test just might get skewed a little so that the person paying your checks doesn't get mad... or you might be so instructed to do so.
To combat this, the government hires another quality control company to look after the contractor's quality control to keep them in check. This what they call quality assurance.
I told you that so I could tell you this...
This was my job at a point in my life... quality assurance for a new EPA facility.
I had just moved myself to start my life over... new city, new job... and I wanted to make a good impression as most people do when they just start a new job. I would eventually come to totally hate the job... but that's tale for a different time.
I would spend my day traveling all over the site review the quality control test that were taken by the other company and complete test of my own. There was a guy that did a great deal of the soil testing (testing for compaction so that things don't sink into the ground after being built). For the life of me, I can't remember his name... and i've been trying for days...
I remember him mostly due to the fact that he had just had surgery on his stomach. It seems his intestinal track separated itself from his stomach. Needless to say, I didn't envy him that scenario.
We'll call him John for a lack of a better name.
About two weeks into my job, John and I were yacking about some small inconsequential thing when we noticed that a contractor was filling in a pipe line hole... and rather fast.
Now, when contractors are filling a hole, they are to do it in layers. I think it was like a foot and half or two feet... and then compact it. It then gets tested. If approved, the process starts over. If not approved then they have to rework it, get it retested until it passes.
John had yet completed any test on this area.
...also, when I say hole... I mean something that was like 20 feet wide... 10 feet deep... or something close to that approximate.
John mentioned to the contractor that he needed to test the soil and proceeded down the hole.
The contractor continued to work on his backhoe while John was in the hole, which was unsafe.
John and I both signaled to him to hold up while John did his test.
A common sense thing to do... right?
About fifteen minutes later, John had just completed his soil test, two gentlemen walked up to me.
One had a hard hat on that had his company's logo and his name labeled across the top.
"Do you know who I am?" he asks.
"You must be Bob", I say... because that was the name on the hat. Before that moment, I had never laid eyes on the man or even knew who he was. My guard was instantly up because anyone coming to you and asking you "if you know who they are" are more than likely about to be an ass.
"I would like to know why I was called out of a meeting for a 'stop work order'"
Now a stop work order is a big deal, but is normally used in times that there is a serious problem and all work on for that particular project needs to be halted. There's normally some paperwork involved. So as you can imagine, this wasn't a true 'stop work order' in any way, and I tried to tell Mr. Bob this.
Except when I would get three words out of my mouth, he'd interrupt me and say accuse me of this that and the other.
I'm an even tempered person and I tend to stay that way when I am able to express and explain what is going on.
After about the 10th time of being interrupted, John told me later, I started walking in a circle every time Bob spoke interrupted. I couldn't remember doing so, because at this point I wanted to hit the guy. Just lay him out. Just shut him the hell up.
This happened a few more times before I lost it.
"You know Bob, I could explain what is going on if you would just shut your mouth for two fu**ing minutes."
It was really a great way to start off a professional relationship.
I told him in certain terms that he had been greatly misinformed about the situation at hand. That there really wasn't a problem and maybe that he might want to take himself back to his desk and take his speech about 'stop work orders' and place it not so gently where the sun didn't shine.
You know, something like that.
Come to find out...Bob was the top dog of the group of people responsible for hiring the general contractors and overseeing the construction of the site.
Turns out that Bob was slightly displeased with my professional performance that day and wanted me off the site immediately.
Also turns out that my company wasn't that unpleased with my performance and kept me on-site until I was no longer needed.
I don't remember doing circles but in my mind I can view myself from above doing that though. Keeping the rage skin deep so that I didn't do something completely stupid.
It's been playing in my mind for the last few weeks. I don't think there's a reason expect for it being a memory that is on loop. My memories do that... loop themselves... like a song that gets stuck and you sing it over and over.
...About a month after that, a group of us (two from my company, some from the qc company, some engineers, some folks from Bob's company) were in a meeting at a spot with the work area, Bob mentioned that he'd been stabbed before.
"Gee Bob, with that shiny personality of yours, I can't believe anybody would want to do that" I said as I walked away.
Some people are just born winners I suppose.