A story of persistence

Earl Nelson worked on a construction crew at Northwestern Bell building telephone lines in Iowa in the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression.

“They would all build pole lines, stay at hotels and come back on Friday night,” Phil Nelson recounts. And every Friday night, as the Depression worsened, employees were laid off based on their seniority with the company. “Everybody checked the list each Friday to see if their names were on it,” he says. “And sure enough, one Friday Dad’s name made the list.” Nelson said his father sought advice from a good friend who told him to show up Monday morning, climb back on that truck and keep building telephone poles. “Dad’s friend told him, ‘Earl, the worst thing that can happen is you don’t get paid,’” Phil Nelson adds. “So Dad went down and climbed on the truck and built pole lines all week. When Friday rolled around, there was his paycheck.” And nobody ever said a word about it. Earl worked another 23 years for Northwestern Bell.