Tradie Life In The Time Of Covid:

Tradie Life in the Time of COVID: A Short Comedy of Sweat, Masks, and Sacrifice

They said, “Stay home, stay safe.”

We heard, “Get up at 5am, put on your steel-caps, and don't forget your fluoro vest—the virus can’t see you if you're hi-vis.”

While the rest of the world was busy baking sourdough and learning how to do downward dog on Zoom, we were out there dodging drywall dust and existential dread.

The health advice changed daily:

- “Wear a mask.” ✔️

- “Wear two masks.” ❌ (Can’t breathe, boss.)

- “Stay 1.5 metres apart.” ✔️

- “Except when lifting a 400kg rooftop unit with your mate Dave who's been coughing since Monday.” 😬

The job site had more sanitiser than actual tools, and we spent half the day wondering if Glen20 doubled as deodorant (it doesn't… turns out it’s flammable).

Smoko became a sacred ritual: ten minutes of freedom where we bonded over lukewarm coffee and stories about which apprentice accidentally sanitised the cable tray.

And through it all, there was one constant:

No matter how critical the restrictions got, tradies were somehow classified as “essential.”

Essential like toilet paper.

Expendable like toilet paper.

We weren’t just holding the economy together—we were holding the plasterboard up while sneezing into our elbows and Googling “can angle grinders spread viruses?”

Ah, the glory days. Pandemic-proof and paid in Bunnings sausages.

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This piece was co-authored using Microsoft Copilot to assist with tone refinement, structural clarity, and evidence synthesis. The moral argument and strategic framing reflect my personal experience as a father, construction manager, and advocate for systemic reform.