Fan Mail

I have to imagine that sportswriters who cover athletes in sports like the NFL or the Olympics must experience a weird tension because they see amazing feats accomplished so often they almost become mundane. 

I experience the same thing covering the roofing industry. I talk to contractors every month who tackle tremendously complex roofing projects on very tight schedules, creating systems that protect buildings for decades or even generations — many of them works of art. 

The “aw, shucks” demeanor of most of the contractors I talk to doesn’t make their accomplishments any less amazing. “It was pretty straightforward,” contractors often tell me. “I do this every day.” 

Well, Michael Jordan might have thrown down 30 points every day, but that didn’t make him any less remarkable to watch. 

The situation reminds me of a bit by comedian Louis CK in which he lampoons people complaining about the drudgery of air travel. “Flying is the worst because people come back from flights and they tell you a horror story,” he says. “They’re like, ‘It was the worst day of my life. First of all, we didn’t board for 20 minutes, and then we get on the plane and they made us sit there on the runway for 40 minutes.’”

“Oh really, what happened next?” he continues. “Did you fly through the air incredibly, like a bird? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight, you non-contributing zero? You’re flying! It’s amazing! Everybody on every plane should just constantly be going, ‘Oh my God! Wow!’ You’re flying! You’re sitting in a chair, in the sky!”

Sometimes you have to take a step back to reawaken to the magic of things you take for granted.

Here’s how Aaron Gibby, operations manager and safety manager for Grieme Roofing, described how his company’s seven-man crew, clad in fall protection gear, lifted and transported 80-foot metal panels for a new standing seam metal roof installed on a school in Summerville, South Carolina, profiled on page XX of this issue: 

“It’s almost like orchestrated dancing to be tied off and lift and move the panels,” said Gibby. “We set the crates up every 35 feet, so to get a panel all the way to the other end, they have to lift it over their heads to be able to get it to where they want it. It’s pretty cool to watch.”

Yes. Yes it is. 

— Chris King