If I drip with sweat at the end of my visit with a client, it will seem like I am a hard worker.
I am a fulltime electrician like my father before me. My entire family is full of men who work in the trades, as my grandfather was a carpenter while my two uncles are both plumbers in different places in the country. At first I wanted to go into show business, but that dream faded by the time I reached high school and started using one period each day for trade school. Since our high school partnered with the local trade school, classes were free for students. You’d use a period that would otherwise go to an elective course and instead you’d get on the bus to head over to the technical college down the road. This turned out to be one of the single most important decisions in my life because it put me on the path towards my life-long career. Being an electrician like my father gave me two things—an outlet to work with my hands, and a way to feel connected to my dad and his personal history. However, my current employer needs to either fix the air conditioner in my work van or provide me with a new vehicle. It’s getting to the point where I am sweating while I’m driving around in between jobs. If I drip with sweat at the end of my visit with a client, it will seem like I am a hard worker. But if I arrive at the client’s house already wet from head to toe, it just looks bad. Appearances aside, it’s a threat to my comfort level as well. It drives me insane when we have hot summer heat waves and I can’t get relief after leaving a client’s house.