The Construction Worker

His trusty hammer hammers up and down, banging on the metal pole that will stabilize Dr. Plep’s new house. The worker was one of the many of the hundreds, and his name was Phil. It was 7 o’clock, and it was almost time to go home to his five kids and wife. He had 3 daughters and 2 sons, all around 6-7. The house he was building was halfway done, and they had put in so much work their backs were breaking.

“Chop chop, Phil, we don’t have all day for drinking,” said Dr. Plep as he walked past Phil. He then through a dirty towel at Phil and said, “Clean up at least, rat.” Dr. Plep walked away laughing with his buddies. Phil just kept working.

He and Dr. Plep were good friends back in the day. One day they were out drinking at the Midnight Bar. When they were driving home around ten, they got pulled over by the cops. The cops said that they might have guns in their car. They searched the car and found a shotgun in their trunk. They arrested them for one whole year. They were only in medical school. Dr. Plep blamed Phil for getting him arrested.

Later on, after they got out of prison, Dr. Plep finished college without telling anyone about his arrest and became a surgeon. Phil wasn’t so lucky. He couldn’t get back into college and became a construction worker. Dr. Plep became the best surgeon in the nation, and one of the top ten best surgeons in the world. He shouldn’t be, though, because he had cheated through college and medical school. He became the richest man in Orlando.

Phil had a tough life growing up to. His mother had him when she was only 16 years old. Her parents thought of her as a disgrace and left her. His father was murdered when Phil was four days old. Phil went to an old public school in Orlando. Phil loved school since he lived on the streets with his mother who worked at the local grocery store. When Phil was 17, his mother was arrested for life since the police found illegal drugs in her purse. Phil then lived with his best friend Joe (Dr. Plep) for the rest of his childhood. They went to the same school, high school, college, and medical school. After the indecent in medical school, they split up. Phil tried to finish medical school, but he failed. He then started a couple of jobs. He was a cashier and a waiter. Then after two years of doing those jobs, he became a construction worker. He has worked as a construction worker for 12 years and is still going.

Phil’s wife was a substitute teacher at Gettle Elementary School. She was still trying to find a way to become a real teacher, not a substitute. Their kids all went to Gettle School.

Phil was 50 years old. He couldn't do this back-breaking job anymore. He wanted to retire. Sadly, he couldn't. Their family couldn't afford to lose half their income. They barely had enough money to pay the bills. When Phil was young, he pictured himself as the best surgeon of the land. Phil was so close to having that dream come true, but it didn’t.

Work isn’t fun. When you pound away the first few days, it’s like paradise, but then it just sinks after that. The sun is sinking down, it’s time to go home, the best moment of the day is waiting to happen. As Phil walks away from his job, he smiles as he finally gets to see his family for the first time in 24 hours.