Real Men Working

Normally we drive right by "Men At Work" signs like these and don't really give them much thought. Typically there isn't much more to them than "Men At Work" and so we just slow down, follow the signs, obey the traffic cones and go on about our day.

As we were driving this morning, we saw the sign posted above.  When we saw the words "Real Men Working", we thought - that's funny - could there be any other kind of men working other than "real" men (as opposed to robots)? Or was this just an over-the-top hyper-macho statement by an over-the-top hyper-macho tree-trimming company? So we decided to read all the way through, expecting to read something entirely different than what the sign ended up saying. 

In an age where most firms focus only on the bottom line, this company* decided that they were going to not only be good at caring for trees but that they were going to live by an ethos of respect, equality and tolerance, something we also strive for here at Velomino. What we love even more about this is that the owner takes personal responsibility for the men working and includes a phone number to reach out (presumably in case of any issue - there are no words or copy (or even a company name) that makes this look like advertising). Leadership at the top sets the tone for the entirety of any organization and while we have never worked with this company, much less knew of them until this morning, we  expect that one sees a much different attitude and work environment here than at a similar company whose leaders did not level up in the same way. We would also expect that this attitude permeates those who work there, so they end up spreading this ethos to other parts of their lives and communities.

While we still have so so far to go to reach true equality and tolerance, and in an era where we are constantly bombarded with news, tweets and posts highlighting disrespect and intolerance, it is always encouraging to see an everyday reminder that there are people out there who, in their own way, are trying to make things better for all of us. 

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*Footnote - the name of the company is All Phases of Tree Care in Los Angeles, California (http://www.tree-guardian.com/)