Bad Moon Rising

First impressions are important, butt what about the second impression? Have you tried to get to the bottom of why you come to that initial conclusion at the forefront of your mind? Are you an ass for condensing your thoughts into one tail-end opinion in a snap judgement? What does a bad moon rising truly reveal when we’re staring it in the rear?

I went east to Jackson, Wyoming this past week to photograph a current job site under construction, the Center Street Hotel. This project brings our companies - Intermountain Erectors, TRC Fabrication and S2M Steel Detailing - some familiar steel construction work in a town we've helped structurally erect and develop for decades.

For those not in-the-know, this project is slated to unveil 99 hotel rooms, high class dining, employee housing, underground parking and retail shopping only a stone's throw away from the iconic Jackson Village Center and Snow King Resort. By spring of 2021, its opening is expected to alleviate housing shortages for both tourists and employees.

Upon arrival three weeks past my last visit, I noticed ass-tounding progress in the structural steel developments around the 80,000+ square-foot lot. My first visit revealed bare concrete on the basement level parking garage with exposed steel columns towering dozens of feet above the ground. Coming back weeks later was like witnessing the efficiency of a hive-mind colony on steroids. This was evidence of the arduous hours and back-breaking efforts a project of this scale demands from its steel junkies on a deadline.

The butt of the joke

The workers were strewn throughout the job site tending to multi-ton beams and anchor bolts still being secured as part of the first floor. Additionally, my attention was caught by a diligent man fastening aluminum floor decking to the top layers of the monstrous horizontal support beams. With arched back and unwieldy equipment in his hand, I noticed a pink, pale backside staring me in the face.

Good God man, do you not realize your cheeks are making their Center Street debut? Is it not drafty enough in your Jackson Hole? Did you forget to close the oven to the Thanksgiving ham?

My immature chuckling aside, I was somewhat bummed at the PG-13 matinee. Some great pictures were rear-ended, not to mention my footage would require tactful selections to tastefully represent the immaculate work these men had accomplished. Butt upon review of my photos, I realized something far greater in my search for a proper PG-PR angle; these men are literally busting their ass - and daily.

What better angle do I need than that of this mans ass that says - and shows - more about our steel laborers in their day-to-day work life than the most rugged portrayal of slow-motion sparks or bulging muscles? These men and women take glamour and flip it like a pancake, owning their own ass-thetic of sweat, bare-skin and raw labor. They understand their steel jungle and maneuver themselves accordingly, not giving a rat's-ass of their own ass on display. Their work is what matters, and it shows as plainly as the pasty bottom of the rump I saw before me.

An ass-tute ass-essment

The above questions deserve answers, a full anal-ysis to reveal why we make these first negative perceptions. At first, I led myself to a bum-rushed conclusion about his presentation on the job, while on second thought, this man has far better priorities than his bad moon rising while working in one of the most hazardous and demanding work environments in construction. He was in the zone; his wardrobe be damned. I’d find no flaw in the quality of work ethic, here.

The first-impression fallacy is far too common. We tend to expose more about ourselves than any amount of bare ass when we jump to uninformed conclusions. These laborers are a breed of their own, and one not to be underestimated for their pledge of long days, difficult work and dangerous obstacles. They're a specimen that exude an elite group of dedicated men and women who accomplish feats most couldn't even fathom. So the next time I make a judgement on the tail-end of an observation, I'll think more about my second impression, first.