San Francisco Contractor Strikes Out
Back in 1989, I was a foreman for the San Francisco Painters Union. It was a good job for a guy in his late twenties, but my son Clancy had just been born and overnight living day to day wasn’t an option anymore. As I recall, the summer had been great after his birth, as it usually is for painting, but as the fall turned to winter I began to get the calls –
We’re rained out.
No work today.
Looks like rain all week.
Those calls were devastating. Rain is a fact of life here in SF, I know that. But I also knew that if I could influence the scheduling of paint jobs, I could find ways to keep painters working and I could step up and be the Dad I wanted to be for my son. I took the Painting Contractor’s exam with my wife and child waiting for me in the car and we struck out with McCartney Painting. We haven’t had many rainy days in recent years, but when we do again, I’ll find work for my guys and do as much as I can to get past those days, because to me they are all versions of me at 29, and I’ll never forget how that felt.
