For metal fabricators, free time is a luxury

Josh Welton of Brown Dog Welding has noticed a concerning trend throughout small metal fabrication shops. Many consumers have come to fabricators and welders expecting them to offer free time, advice, and even services.

Whether you’re a mechanic, a fabricator, a machinist, or a writer, there’s no such thing as free time.

Over the span of many years, you’ve spent long hours nearly every day of every week honing your talent, developing your skills, and gaining knowledge that only comes from such experience. Both the time it takes you to get a job done and the time you spend with your family, traveling, or just resting are worth something.

The flip side is, always be cognizant of the time other people spend with you. Unless you’re paying for their instruction or production, you don’t have a right to their attention. Even if you’ve hired that person to build you something, you shouldn’t expect unlimited access. If they do go above and beyond for you, don’t take it for granted. This might sound like an obvious take to some of you, but with social media and reality TV becoming so heavily consumed, I’ve noticed that many in the blue-collar community have come to assume others are there to entertain or teach them, that their time might as well be their own.

Recently I came across an Instagram post from a fabricator who had been on a road trip across the country. He was upset that a well-known shop wouldn’t give him a tour while he was passing through their town. The thing that got me wasn’t that he asked for a tour; there’s nothing wrong with that. It was that he felt as though the shop owed him that tour because they were both part of an online welding community.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine who owns and operates a very popular hot rod shop. He was venting to me about a recent series of phone calls he’d received from a dude building his own hot rod.

The guy was asking for specific answers to issues he was running into on his own project. And he kept calling, every step of the way. Until finally my very patient friend said, “I’m running a shop. I’m building cars for clients that are paying me. This is how I make a living. I can’t spend my time and energy to walk you through your build.” The guy on the other end was pissed off, like he was entitled to a limitless stream of free help and advice. Now you might say, “Yeah, but I just have a quick question for you!” You might, but so do the next 20 people. Just 10 minutes times 20 queries and suddenly I need to block more than three hours of time out of my schedule.

Most of us don’t work with large margins, no matter where we’re at in the industry. We bust our asses putting in crazy-long workdays to make money to provide a nice living for ourselves and for our family. Look at it this way: You’re either taking time from me or stealing time away from my family.

The online welding community, especially on Instagram, is amazing. There are numerous members who give and give and give, and bless those who can do so. But for those who don’t, you can’t presume to know why. It’s not necessarily that they don’t like you, or don’t want to get to know you or are selfish jerks. If they can take time for you, consider it a bonus and be grateful. Then if you can pass that kindness on, good for you! But it’s more than understandable if you just aren’t in a place where that’s a priority. That doesn’t make you a bad person.

Free time is a myth. Every moment is valuable.