Chacham's Journal: Chronicle: Learning how to climb a ladder

Andy used to own a roofing business but has since mostly retired. He no longer has any employees or major equipment, but he does work a few hours most mornings to keep himself busy and make some money. Bob is a friend of mine, who is also friendly with Andy, and somewhat recently started to work with him in the mornings, giving Andy the help that he needs.

Bob had to go out of town one day and Andy needed help. So, it was arranged that i would go in his stead. I know nothing of roofing, but i can hand him stuff or whatever and be mildly helpful, at least better than having noone there at all. I agreed to go simply because Bob asked me to, and off i went.

It was arranged that i would meet Andy at his house at 7:30. I rode my bike over and i think i was 2 or 3 minutes late. He had called me when i was just around the block from him, maybe a minute away, asking me where i was. I am usually prompt, but i miscalculated. Regardless, i know that he is a stickler for time, which is funny, because Bob isn't.

When we got to the worksite, he put up the ladder handed me a bucket and asked me to take it up. I climbed two steps and froze. The first two steps of the ladder seem super easy, but the third step is where you are now actually climbing a ladder. It seems simple, simple as walking, right? But it isn't. There's a couple other things involved.

I have a fear of heights. So do a lot of people. Though, when most people say they have a fear of heights they actually mean they have a fear of falling. I have that too. But i also have a fear of heights which manifests itself in my ankles. If i am standing next to a tall structure and look straight up, my ankles tense up and begin to hurt. Once, at the Gateway Arch, i looked up to the top and nearly fell over. I think someone caught me, though i don't remember exactly. This is an irrational fear that i have litle control over. While the good advice of "don't look down" helps with the fear of falling, it does not help with the latter.

So there i was, frozen. He said i did not need to climb it up, and then i watched him go up and down the ladder a couple times before i climbed up. I was afraid because i kept putting my left knee past the side of the ladder, but that is normal. When i got to the top, i walked off (it was a flat roof), but he showed me that i had made a mistake by not holding onto the top of the ladder when i got off it. That can cause the ladder to fall! You must hold the ladder when getting off at the top. He said to hold the top of the sides, something reinforced by Bob when he showed me as well.

Getting down the ladder also took some watching. It's really easy when you know what you are doing, but it does not come so naturally, at least not to me. They seem to know how to do it but can't explain it without watching themselves do it. It's just one of those things they see as being so easy that they wonder why others have issue with it.

I helped on the roof, but not as much as he would have liked, mostly because this isn't my forte, and what needs to be done does not come naturally to me. I can make guesses, but unlike him i will be wrong. And he didn't explain things well, i must learn to watch silently and only talk when he is not in middle of something.

On the way home, Andy gave me $50, which i thought was overwhelmingly generous for how little i had done. I never expected him to call on me again. Indeed, he told Bob that i had issues with the ladder and mentioned other things. Oh well. I hope i helped at least a little.

But recently, Bob just came back to me because he is planning to go out of town again soon, and "my name came up" as a helper. He must be desperate. Heh. Anyway, Bob just started giving me ladder lessons. I feel so silly needing them, but it takes knowledge and practice to do it safely and comfortably. I even went to look it up only and watched a few videos. All of them show how to setup the ladder and other safety issues, but only one showed how to get off and on at the top. Fwiw, if you will get off onto the roof from rung A, you stop one rung below rung A. Then, with your hands on the rung above rung A, you place your non-dominant foot in the middle of rung A, and lift the dominant foot onto the roof, then your non-dominant foot, and only then take your hands off the rung. To get back on, simply reverse these steps. It takes a little getting used to to make it natural, but it makes sense.

Bob is showing me how to do it on his roof, but that's a slanted roof, making it all that much scarier. I asked him to leave getting off and on to another day, as it was too much for me to handle in one day. I keep asking him to spot me by being near the bottom of the ladder, because just being there makes me feel safer and therefore more confident when climbing above the bottom two steps. I vacillate between considering this a skill and seeing it as something that ought to be as simple as walking. Maybe with practice one leads to the other.