Our Riverbend 2008 build site is a typical construction site – drop cords, power tools and all kinds of hard and heavy materials. I guess what I am trying to say is that jobsites lean more towards the masculine side of the gender scale. Day one, when I arrived pulling my red Radio Flyer wagon, boy did I get the laughs! But diligently, day after day, my little red wagon hauled in the boxes of shirts, coolers filled to the brim with water, ice, Poweraid and snacks and other supplies to keep us cool, comfortable and working. In the evenings it hauled out empty ice chests and spigot coolers to be cleaned and filled for the next day. Every morning I would hear “Linda’s here with her wagon (ha,ha)” and in the evening the trip out would be met with the same good natures laughs.
Interesting how time, work load and fatigue have a way with softening our spirits. Soon I was seeing these guys borrow the wagon to haul thing from the POD to the house and from the trailer and van to the POD. My little red wagon was gaining respect! I knew the laughs were over when I caught Michael Hartman, our summer intern with the Notre Dame University Summer Learning Program, use the wagon to haul coolers up to my van – - and then ride it back down the hill! No longer would the Radio Flyer be shunned as too little to be useful or too childish to be of real service on such a serious task. Victory is sweet, isn’t it??!!
