One of the professions that epitomises the Time is Money adage must be the Building Trade.

One man bands. Quoting and making estimates for jobs unpaid. The travel. The parking. Needing funds upfront to purchase materials. The getting to the job, starting and then seeing its not the job it looked like from the outside. More expense to negotiate with the customer. Working in all weathers. Cash v Income. Dealing with complaints. Spinning plates. Running. On the run. Stress. Stress.

The customer. Ignorant to what needs to be done. Everyone saying something different. Wildly differing quotes. Some wanting to do only part of the job. Or in a particular way. Not knowing when they are going to start. Wanting the customer to immediately go to the case machine or shop for materials. Not producing invoices. Not picking up discarded materials. Making a mess. Stress. Stress.

Unregulated, at times under educated but skilled men dealing with all sorts. Issues of Class, Education, Income, Resources, Opportunity all rolled into a transaction about the precious place where people live.

The eternal task of making agreements with strangers who demand large sums of money for skilled services. A relationship of trust. Love and Hate. Anger and Pleasure. The Making and Breaking of Affectionate Bonds.

Copyright Adrian Scott
North London Counsellor Blog 2021
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique