H.I.J.I.C*

Our foreman had a family emergency this morning,which I was unaware of until I called him at 7:45a.m. and woke him from his slumber in the waiting room of the ER where he'd been since,oh 5ish.At 5 after 7 I had already planned out the morning with my crew of 2 fellow I.J's and we were doing what we knew what to do already and I told him not to worry about us,worry about his family.
There were jokes about me being the *head intermediate journeyman in charge,based on my length of service,and truth be told it was purely symbolic,but today,I was the leader.Because my friends let me,and I fell easily back into my tried and true management style of "hey,this is what we have to do,lets just fucking do it".Really,it's how I operate every day,regardless of the circumstance.But today we were rudderless in other ways.Problems came up and we had to solve them without the benefit of more experienced people to fall back on.And we did.It's one thing to be a soldier,doing what you're told,and another to be in a position of solving a problem you would otherwise defer.And we did that,as a team.It was cool,and reminded me of all the things I loved about being a manager on a team of people who respect and like each other.
It was like a preview of things to come if and when I get my journeymans ticket.
I can still lead,and in a trade 180 degrees away from where I had done it before.
And that made me feel good.That,and my boss trusts me enough to burden me with the task.