Transcript of speech given by Jim Gresh
at the National Plumber's Convention
9:35 P.M. February 12th, 2006

Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman. I want to thank you all for coming tonight. Thanks to Harvey's Barbecue for doing such a wonderful catering job. I don't know what to call it once you've gone back for the fifth time'�fifths? Anyway, I had to get fifths on that slow roast pork. And I bet I'm not the only one, eh? (laughter) Also, I'd like to thank the Mariott West for putting up with all of our pipe-talk and butt crack jokes. (laughter and applause)

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jim Gresh. I am the sitting president of the National Plumber's Association and one of the co-organizer's of this convention. I've been doing pipe-work since I was old enough to pick up a wrench and I've got a father and brother in the business. I think everybody here can agree that plumbing is a craft that rarely gets the respect it deserves. Too many times'�(applause)'�Too many times I've ran a snake or fixed a drain just to turn around, find a check being waved in my face, and a hand pushing me out the door. (applause) The purpose of this convention is to remind all you guys that you are needed, and you are appreciated, even if it's only by other plumber's once a year at a Mariott. (laughter)
Believe it or not, the art of plumbing was perfected in the ancient civilized worlds of China, Persia, and Rome. As far back as 2500 B.C. With the people spending their leisure time at public baths, there came a need for a system to dispose of the old water, and supply the new. This piping was often made of lead and from there came the term 'plumbum,'� the Latin word for lead. Through history plumbing has remained a craft both needed and forgotten by many people. Slowly, over time, people have taken us for granted more and more. People have come to expect the Plumber instead of value him as a luxury. Our service is no longer appreciated, but anticipated. In short, the plumber is slowly becoming the garbage man. (applause)

For me, plumbing has forever been about the craft. Though not the noblest, plumbing still requires a great deal of focus and ability. It requires a steady hand and a mind of equal composure. It requires thinking, acting, and most importantly, it requires that somebody pick up the phone and call us! (laughter) By that I mean, of course, that without the demand there is no supply. This we must appreciate first and foremost. The fact is, we are needed. (applause followed by short pause) I am needed.

(pause. Speaker puts down note cards) Lately for me'�(pause. Speaker takes a long drink and loosens tie before continuing) For me, it has been important to remind myself that I am needed. Lately that is'�lately it has been important. (long pause) As I said, we are all needed. As plumbers, we are needed by anyone who has ever flushed a toilet or switched on a garbage disposal. Without us, they'd be on their own'�they would be lost. (scattered applause)

I'm sorry to digress, but lately I've been giving a lot of thought to this issue of need. My'�my'�my wife left me five days ago. I'm sorry. This is inappropriate. (pause) We have been together for nine years'�we had been together for nine years when she left. She took our son. I say I've been thinking about this lately because it occurred to me that the people who do need me don't know me, and the ones that do know me'�I'm sorry, this is inappropriate.

I say this only to add strength to what I was saying before. By recognizing the need for our craft, we can further appreciate it. We can hold on to it as a reason to continue to do what we do. (pause. Speaker picks up note cards) Let me try and pick up where I left off'�

Plumbing is a job. You go someplace, bend and install some new pipes, or maybe a water heater, give them the bill, and go home. A job. But it's these jobs that we all do so mindlessly that have the most potential for inspiration and passion and creativity. I remember being a child and working with my father at the construction sites, or just out on a random job. The first moment I understood that I was doing something that helped other people. It really was inspiring. Even as young as I was, I could respect'�I could respect that we were performing a service'�(pause) I'�took'�my son out with me for the first time shortly before his mother took him away. (Speaker closes his eyes)

It was a great day'�a beautiful day'�(Audience member approaches dais.) It's ok, Joe, I'm fine. Just'�give me a sec'�it was a beautiful day. I guess there aren't many days when you walk outside and think, 'Helluva day to do some plumbing,'� but it was beautiful outside. The day before I had been doing some work on the house, threading some pipe for the kitchen sink, and my son had watched me for a little while, then asked if he could come with me on a job sometime. 'Sure thing,'� I said, 'Never too early to start.'� So the next day he gets to be in charge of my tools. 'These are important, Sam'�'� My son's name is Sam'�he's 7. 'These are important, Sam. You're in charge of them all day long and it's your job to make sure they get into the truck, then into the house, and then back into the truck when I'm all done.'� I'm often struck by how eager we are for responsibility as children, and how much we will do to avoid it just five or ten years later. Sam was the best tool-carrier I ever could have asked for. He took the job seriously and even tried to learn the wrench sizes. At one point I was loosening a bolt that just wouldn't budge and Sam quite innocently asked if I needed help. 'Yeah buddy. Why don't you grab right here and pull'�at the count of three. Ready? 1'�2'�3'� And I'll tell ya what, if that tiny little fifty-eight pound boy didn't help me turn that wrench'�I guess you could call it a Kodak moment. One of the moments that you know immediately you'll never forget. I like those moments. They're never the weddings or the births or the funerals, those moments, well, of course, you don't forget those things, but the moments that you know immediately you'll never forget are always smaller'�more intimate.

(entended pause) Anyway, It's always the good things that stick with ya. (pause) There are just so many good memories that keep coming back. I'm sorry'�I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be saying all this, but'�it's just been a very strange week for me and I'm not sure what to do with myself. I just can't seem to think of anything else.

Once my wife and I'�two years into our marriage, I'm sure it was two years because she was pregnant with Sam'�we took a weekend trip to'�I honestly don't remember where we were going'�somewhere south? It doesn't matter. My wife and I were taking a trip and simply couldn't find a place to stay for the night. Motel 6 after Holiday Inn after HoJo and nothing but No Vacancy's. As we're driving I spot a little off shoot'�a little bend, barely a fork in the road. I swear to God I was a half-second away from suggesting we pull over and sleep there when my wife turns to me and says, 'Why don't you just pull off and we can sleep in the car. I'm tired.'� The ESP was one of my favorite parts about being married'�the finished sentences. So I pull off and park. We fold down the back seats and unpack some of our clothes for bedding. I remember we were listening to the radio as we fell asleep and the song playing was God Only Knows by The Beach Boys'�the last thing I remember before falling asleep is staring at her eyes'�staring at her eyes and resisting the impulse to say something. I remember distinctly thinking to myself, 'Don't say anything.'� We slept very close that night because of the cold. We wrapped each other up as best we could and I'm sure I hadn't ever slept as well as I did that night'�or since. I woke up with the sun and stared at my gorgeous, pregnant wife for a long time. Stared, trying to remember all the details.

(pause. Speaker takes another extended drink and then raises his glass) This is part of it. Or at least, it's been mentioned often'�one of my enumerable faults. Drinking too much. 'You're always drinking. Why do you always have to have a beer in your hand?'� She'd work herself into hysteria and I wouldn't even have to be there. I'd sit there without responding and she'd just get more and more worked up. It was impressive to see. (pause) Actually'�actually it wasn't really the drinking. The drinking was a pretty small part'�a small part of a larger picture. I mean, I used to drink much more than I do now. I used to go straight from work to the bars before Sam was born. I think that's what it was. She would see the beer in my hand and remember the beginning when we were having problems'�when we were too much of a real couple for her. She was always such an idealist. I think what bothered her is that she liked feeling better than me. I think some part of her enjoyed the time when I was a mess and she was on top of things. She liked the idea of two children better than the idea of a child and a husband.

When she'�she left in the middle of the night. Can you believe that? I mean, how dramatic'�how incredibly melodramatic to take your son and leave your husband in the middle of the night. In the note she said she didn't want me, 'freaking out in front of Sam,'� and she'd be back in the morning to talk about things. (pause) She didn't come back. I don't know if she was lying or had been planning on coming back and couldn't but'�she didn't come back. Course I called her mom's house first, but they wouldn't pick up. Damn Caller ID. She called me yesterday'�wouldn't tell me where she was. We talked for awhile but all she really said to me was, 'I don't think I can ever trust you again'�'�

(pause. Speaker begins to cry) I cheated on her. (Audience member approaches dais and calls to Speaker.) Goddammit Joe, just leave me be! I'm fine. Goddammit'�It was some woman on a job'�she was home alone and'�flirting with me. I didn't even see it coming and it had been so long since a woman had been that'�forward with me. It was like some fucking story in Penthouse Forum. Some goddamned erotica in a dirty novel. Some fucking'�sex. Cheap sex that wasn't worth anything. I left and then drank until I couldn't see straight'�couldn't think straight. I convinced myself that she'd be ok if I was honest about it, she'd be mature if I was mature. When I told her she just shut down. She didn't yell, or throw things, or hit me, or storm out, or cry, or'�anything'�she just sat there quietly looking at me. I tried to look back at her but I couldn't.
She said, 'Don't tell Sam.'�
'Why would I tell Sam?'� I said.
'I have to go somewhere'�I have to go for a drive,'� she said. And then she left. I passed out on the couch and woke up with a note on my chest and no more family.

I just wish I knew what she told Sam. What she said to him when she woke him up in the middle of the night. I keep picturing his tired little eyes looking confused and scared when his mother quietly wakes him up and puts his coat on him and walks him out to the car with his little suitcase and puts him in the back seat and kisses him on the forehead and says, 'it's going to be ok'�'� (Speaker drops head and cries for a moment)

(Speaker points to two empty chairs) That's where they should be sitting. When I got the letter asking me to speak today she told me how proud of me she was. She said she wanted to make sure she had a good seat. Sam just wondered if he could bring his Gameboy. (pause) And now we're here. And I'm standing in front of the Plumbers of America making a fool out of myself. I gave myself about four pep talks leading up to tonight, trying to make sure I could keep it together. (pause. Speaker finishes drink) And why? Why should I have to keep it together? Why should I have to stand up here and act as if my world is stable when it's falling down around me? Who makes these fucking rules?! Yes, I'm pitiful and yes, I'm falling apart, but this is what's real. This is what's happening and where is the damned rulebook that says I have to cover this up!? Don't we love reality!? Don't we watch reality TV just to get our kicks watching people lose it!? Well here ya go folks, here's a live performance! Live reality TV! The realest of the real! I'll drink to that. (Speaker raises glass before trying to drink, notices glass is empty and sets it down)

We're all here'�we're all here because we're plumbers and what else are you supposed to do when you get invited to the National Plumbers Convention and you're a plumber? I don't love plumbing. It's my job. Its how I make the money I need to support my family, but now, I don't have a family anymore. My family has left. So what do I care about plumbing? Plumbing is plumbing and'�work is work, but'�love'�love is'�everything. Love is life. Family is life. How can I be expected'�why should I be expected to make a living when I don't have my family'�when I don't have my life? (Speaker pauses for a long time, composes himself and begins to read from his note cards)

The very nature of plumbing, of filling holes, of sealing cracks, is helping people live their lives in the most efficient way possible. Helping people to keep from worrying about the small things. The small things aren't what matter. It's the big things. The big things in life are what deserve our attention. The big things don't have answers in the yellow pages.

Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your night. (Speaker exits)

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