MARVIN JOLES III featuring Eli Joles
BLACKTOP BANTER
LINE STRIPING …
A KID CAN DO IT .
MARVIN JOLES III featuring Eli Joles
It ’ s no secret that I enjoy to show our work on social media , highlight what makes our industry fun and have made an unorthodox career in the industry our of doing it . One byproduct of this journey has been the effect it has had on my family and for the sake of this article , particularly my son Eli . Elijah has been on and off projects with me since he could walk . We have a photo of him helping trim a driveway out with sealer at 3 years old . He has grown up around my business , and in it , as it has grown . He is closing in on 13 years old , and can hold his own in almost any aspect of the Asphalt Maintenance helper side of things . He doesn ’ t get to spray sealer or apply crack sealant or anything yet , but he understand the process and knows what needs done at what time , and is not afraid to do it . Ironically though , there is one area where he seems to shine and truly enjoy it more than others , and that is Line Striping . When we started doing our own line striping in house , I often would bring him along to hold the other end of the chalk lines or move shingles ( yes , I started with shingles ). But he soon figured out how to run the machine and that all he needed to do was line the lasers up with the chalk line or old line imprint and pull the trigger … and let off in time . After a few lines he was off and going … that was at 7 years old . Now , Eli does much of all layout by himself and has his own striper that he performs the work with on projects while we are on another area of the project , and sometimes when the only thing there is to do on the project is stripe an area that he can handle by himself , I will drive us there and just assist him . Eli often films his line striping or takes photos and posts thems to his Instagram (@ thelinestripingkid ). Quite a role reversal in a short time , but those moments over this last summer were incredibly enjoyable for both of us .
I thought it would be cool to share a few Q & A results about his experience line striping , he and I did for this article , and share with you all . Marvin : What do you enjoy most about line striping ? Eli : The fact that I get to do it by myself and if I mess up , it ’ s on me to fix it .
Marvin : Is line striping easy or hard ? Eli : What I do of it is easy . I don ’ t do curves or circles yet because they are super hard , but I can do almost anything else .
Marvin : What makes what you do easy ? Eli : The 2 dot lasers on my striper .
Marvin : How are you going to get better at it ? Eli : I watch other line stripers on insta like Captn Striper , CMB and other guys , and try to learn from what they do .
Marvin : What are you going to do in the off-season ? Eli : Go to school , wrestle and probably play Playstation .
As always , if you have any insight , questions or criticisms about this article or anything in it , please feel free to email us at marvin @ blacktopbanter . com or chris @ blacktopbanter . com and of course , reach out to us at Blacktop Banter on any form of social media . You can listen to Blacktop Banter anywhere podcasts are available , and the video versions are always posted to the Blacktop Banter YouTube Channel .
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