Every year when summer
rolls around we celebrate
the official time of year
when the beach and backyard
cookouts are common
activities on the weekends.
Yet, we seem to forget that
summer means the weather
will be getting hotter than
usual. While that seems like
a common sense idea, we
don’t seem to live in a common
sense world when it
comes to the summer heat.
The last couple of weeks
have been rather warm in
sunny Southern California
and with the increased temperature
you get all sorts of
references and complaints
about the weather. Everyone
has a right to complain
about the heat because it
is not comfortable to sweat
while you stand outside
waiting for the bus, or while
you wait at a red light for
your turn to go. However,
the occasional heat waves
that come down on us
should be a reminder to us
that we have it better than
most of the country when
it comes to weather. While
states in the east coast and
the South have to deal with
hurricane-causing humidity
all summer long; we only
have to deal with heat in the
90s a few times a year and
sometimes it doesn’t even
happen in the summer.
I remember between
2001 and 2003 my dad was
nice enough to offer me a
job working with him outdoors.
For almost two years,
my dad (Ralph), my uncle
(Heli) and I would wake up
at 5 a.m. or so and hit the
road to build tennis courts,
basketball courts, driveways
and any other structure that
required pouring cement.
The pay was good and working
with my dad and uncle
was an amazing learning
experience. I learned that
waking up early and being
productive is one of the
best feelings in the world; I
discovered that having coffee
and a cigarette with my
dad in the morning was one
of the best bonding experiences
I will ever have; and
I also realized that the only
thing worse than a heat
wave it working outside for
eight hours during a heat
wave.
It seemed that every
project we worked on was
in Rancho Cucamonga,
Ontario or Monrovia. If we
were lucky, we got to work
in the San Fernando Valley,
where the heat doesn’t necessarily
tone down but at
least we were closer to home
(Inglewood). The work was
hard, tiring and at times
painful but we were happy
doing it every day. Sometime
in 2003 my dad’s back
started to hurt and I realized
that unless I wanted to be
a contractor, construction
was not the field for me. So I
asked my dad if I could quit
the job to go back to school.
“If you go back to school, go
to school” was his response,
which was backed up by my
mom.
At 23 and after five years
out of school, I registered
at El Camino College and
started from zero, all the
while my dad woke up at 5
a.m., took my mom to work
and then made his way to
work only to come home
and enjoy what was left of
the day with the family and
some cold beer. Mom and
dad never asked for rent
money or that I pay bills:
all they required was that
school be taken serious and
it was. My dad shoveled dirt
with the sun on his back
while my mom stood on her
feet all day as a lab assistant
so that I could go to school
and not have to worry about
money. From El Camino
to San Diego State to Cal
State Long Beach, they went
about their day while I sat
in a classroom taking notes
and trying to graduate.
So when the weather gets
hot for a week or two and it
feels like we are in a bakery
oven when I step outside to
interview a source, or to take
pictures for the front page, I
am reminded of how lucky
I am. It reminds me how
lucky I am to live in the Los
Angeles area, near multiple
beaches. It reminds me how
lucky I am to have worked
with my dad and uncle for
two years during which time
we bonded through smoke
breaks and traffic jams.
More importantly, it’s a
reminder of how lucky I am
that my dad worked a backbreaking
job while my mom
was on her feet all day as a
lab assistant so that I could
go to school. While the heat
is a bit of an inconvenience,
I am lucky to have it.