Review Of Jack Haas's 'Learning Real Feelings'

In Learning Real Feelings: A Study of High Steel Ironworkers’ Reactions to Fear and Danger, Jack Haas discusses the different culture that constructions workers who work on the iron beams over twenty stories high seem to have. Haas began his study hoping to learn more about how these construction workers deal with their feelings of fear in such a dangerous situation. However, he quickly learned that these construction workers never speak of fear but quite often reference the danger. Haas did not know if the workers were so used to these dangerous situations that they no longer felt fear or if the workers were just good at hiding their emotions as Haas has tried to do. Regardless, Haas instead found a different culture that exists amongst this …show more content…
For their own safety they do not go up to the work site and instead wait on the ground and work there. Due to the foreman’s absence it is up to the workers to manage themselves and hold each other accountable. It is safe to assume that such a situation would cause conflict between workers yet while studying the ironworkers Haas realizes that there is very little conflict between workers besides the initiation of apprentices, and it turns out that the initiation is there for the safety of the other workers. Workers recognize that running the iron (working on the steal beams) is a managed performance and may not reflect one’s true feelings. It is important for workers to know whether a confident front will break down in a crisis. To test the feelings of other workers, specifically the apprentices, we see binging (Haas 237). Binging consisted of punching each other on the shoulders and verbal jabs toward an individual to let them know they had exceeded the group’s informal standard. If the apprentice was able to take the binging without overreacting they were welcomed among the main group of ironworkers. In a dangerous and unpredictable job such as this, it is incredibly important to know that you are working with someone who can remain calm in situations of frustration because rash decisions could potentially be life or death for him and the other workers. After apprentices prove …show more content…
Many foremen have little regard for worker safety and weather conditions which is why ironworkers work together and resist the foremen’s demands. The beams the ironworkers work on range anywhere from four to twelve inches wide and the foremen often want the workers working regardless of the weather conditions. Despite the many challenges weather brings to an already difficult and dangerous job, work is expected to continue; snow is shoveled off, ice is melted by a portable heater, and if it is raining or windy workers are just expected to be extra careful (Haas 240). However, the workers understand that if a worker does not want to work in particularly bad conditions they have the right to choose for themselves. “The relativity of danger in ironworkers’ thinking sometimes leads to different interpretations of the situation. Some workers may choose to leave work while others may choose to stay. The important point is the collective support given to workers to choose freely” (Haas 241). Normally the decision to leave or work is an individual one that is respected by the other workers; however, the ironworkers occasionally have to band together to go against an order given by the foreman. For example, a story was told about how two or three inches of packed snow accumulated on the planks and beams making it incredibly slippery. The