Growing
Up In A Construction Family
by Carmen Ciricillo –
The Construction Comic
My great grandfather
immigrated to the United States around the turn of the century from Italy.
He was a carpenter. He got booted out of Italy for using shoddy materials
on the Tower of Pisa - now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
He came to this country
with one thing on his mind - to open a small construction supply house
that would eventually become America's number one do it yourself chain run
by me, his great grandson! Just kidding, I was daydreaming.
Actually, he started
his own construction company and passed his skills down to my grandfather,
who passed those skills down to my father, who passed them down to me.
When I realized construction meant lifting wood at 7a.m. I opted to become
a comedian. The heaviest thing that I ever wanted to carry on a job was
lunch.
 I'll tell you a little
more about my comedy life later on, for now I'd like to inform you about
my life growing up in a construction family.
From the time I was a
baby my Dad tried to teach me about construction. I remember laying in my
crib looking up at my mobile of different kinds of nails - the 6, the 8
and the 10 penny, the spike and the roofing nails. And never once was my
mother worried that I'd poke my eye out, because my father was a gentle
man that would tuck me in and put my safety glasses on. Most kids had a
stroller, I had a wheelbarrow with a harness. I never went on walks, I
went on pours.
My Dad bought me a bib
that doubled as a reflectorized safety vest for when he took me on night
jobs and I got hungry. He also bought me safety approved clothing like
OSHA KOSH overalls.
I grew up fast learning
quickly about he business from hands on experience on the construction
site At the tender age of two not only was I toilet trained, I was port o
potty trained. Of course it wasn't a full size unit it was a Little Tikes
Port O Potty. Dad bought me a toy tool kit and as I picked up the hammer
he said my first words were "No free estimates!" He was so
proud.
I had a definite
advantage as a kid with a carpenter for a father. Most kids had a tree
house but all it was, was a piece of wood nailed over two branches. Mine
was a split level two bedroom/two bath with six foot cathedral ceilings
(hey, I was only two and a half feet tall).
My Dad loved to tell me
stories, but only ones with a construction theme. He liked the three
little pigs because they built houses. He told me that most people don’t
understand that the wolf represents the county inspector. He wasn't trying
to eat those pigs, he was making sure they lived in safe housing. Safe
housing has always been an issue to my father. He told me the one about
the old woman who lived in a shoe and said she would have been better
protected if she would have just moved up into a steel toe boot.
Christmas was always a
favorite time for me as a kid until one Christmas when all my friends got
rocking horses and I got saw horses I thought my Dad had gone a little too
far. The other gift my Dad had bought me was surveying equipment. The only
use I had for that was to check out the neighbor girl.
My Dad was fairly cheap
when it came to Christmas decorations. We never used garland on the tree
just yellow construction caution tape. My father said it served a dual
purpose because it warned people that our tree could fall at any moment.
When I went to school I
excelled in Algebra, Biology and Economics but my Dad was not concerned
with those subjects. "How'd you do in shop?" he asked. "I
got all my fingers!" I said. He was not impressed. A missing digit
meant you were a hard worker that could take pain. When my uncle lost his
thumb cutting Formica I almost passed out. "I said are you okay, Unc?"
He just looked at me and with his other hand gave me the thumbs up. The
only people who were really concerned about my uncle's thumb was his
bowling team.
Construction battle
scars were better than trophies, because you carried them along with you
wherever you went. You had better think twice before you asked my father
if he ever got hurt on the job, because he'd turn it into show and tell.
"Hurt? No I never got hurt, unless you consider this! " tearing
his shoes and socks off exposing where he'd accidentally shot a nail
through his large toe. "I guess this wouldn't hurt could it, pal!
"Okay, calm down Dad, he didn't know. " I pleaded. "And how
bout this!" ripping his shirt off and revealing a slice off his chest
where a router had nipped him. "This would probably tickle a guy like
you huh, pal!" "Dad please!" I begged. "And this is
pleasant!" unzipping his polyester shorts... "No!! Dad No!
"I screamed "Dad let's go, we don't have to eat at Denny's
today."
I've had a lot of
experiences in the construction business and through the Internet I will
tell you about them. As I said I am a comedian and now perform my routines
for Home Building and Remodeling Associations, construction events and
comedy clubs all over this country. This will be a great pleasure to be
able to tell you about some of my life's experiences through writing. I
hope you enjoy it.
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