When I was coming up as a "cub" bricklayer in the early 70's,

[panader0]

insults were traded on the job all day. I got my share because I was a longhair.
The more brutal the insult, the more hilarity ensued. "There will be no boundaries!"
At first, when I was young, I took offense. But I came to see the jovial camaraderie
of it. I got pretty good at it. Nothing was off limits.
It continues to this day, as most of my buddies are construction trash.
I have never laughed so much.

[AJT]

1. Trained on the job?

[panader0]

2. Over three million laid.

[AJT]

3. Very nice. It takes a lot patience and hard work to become

great at it.

[ProudLib72]

4. How do you feel about joints overflowing with mortar

and not pointed up? I see this often in older buildings that have been converted into restaurants. It really gets to my father who laid brick through high school and into college. He always told me a joint should be about 3/8". There was some leeway to take up space or make space. But, man, he is super meticulous when it comes to pointing everything up and wiping down the excess mortar. I guess it makes a difference if you have all the time in the world versus needing to lay 600 brick in a day.

[Doc_Technical]

5. This thread caused this to pop into my addled brain

[OriginalGeek]

6. I swear I once watched a brick layer for half an hour

just laying his bricks. I was mesmerized by his smooth, seemingly effortless motion and enthralled by the beauty of his work. (I am a huge fan of red brick anyway). He must have been in his 60s or just looked it - maybe older - just scoop, slap, plop, tap repeat...It boggled my mind how he was so accurate and so fast. The lines were perfect, the depth was exact...It was art to me.

[jpak]

7. This is a male bonding thang

If you can rudely insult yur buds with the most over-the-top comments you can conjure.

And they don't kick your ass.

Yur buds.

Yup