MONTREAL Engenharia was a 100% Brazilian company, and the name was an acronym: Montagem e Representação Industrial (Industrial Assembly and Representation). It was one of the largest engineering companies in Brazil, and certainly in the world, with more than 15,000 employees, reaching 25,000 around 1978, during the construction of the central span of the Rio-Niterói Bridge. Its offices occupied several floors at 90 São José Street in Rio, at 55 Avanhandava Street in São Paulo, as well as in Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Salvador, Recife, and many other cities. The company was responsible for numerous industrial projects in Brazil, including refineries, cement factories, steel mills, and a variety of other projects. A true Engineering School.
In 1969, I was an intern in the civil engineering division, working with engineers Geraldo Torres, Cristiano G. Henning, Márcio Fraga, architect Gilberto Ribeiro, secretary Cyrlei, and others. They treated me well and taught me not only how to do engineering but also to enjoy it!
At lunchtime, the elevator was packed, including the competent engineer Paulo Carvalho, who was the head of the entire Montreal Budget Department. Cheerful, expansive, with a booming voice, Engineer Paulo was better known as "Paulo Palavrão" (Paulo Swearword), because, according to the legend, a letter was missing in the registration of his name, which is why he couldn’t articulate a sentence without inserting a few words that weren’t exactly in the dictionary. A lovable character.
At that moment, the elevator stopped on a floor, and another engineer, whom I didn’t know, entered. Let’s say his name was Jorge. The following conversation, which began with Paulo, is unforgettable:
Paulo: "Hey, Jorge, I heard you resigned today, is that true?"
Jorge: "Yes. I’m leaving. There are too many SOBs (sons of bitches) here."
Paulo: "And where are you going?"
Jorge: "I’m going to Metropolitana."
Paulo: "If it’s just because of that, it’s better for you to stay, damn it!"
Jorge: "Why?"
Paulo: "Because here you already know who the SOBs are, damn it!"
Jorge: "So what?"
Paulo: "There, you’ll still have to find out."
Laughter erupted in the elevator, and the young intern (me) stood there, perplexed, watching and learning how things worked, how engineers thought, acted, and spoke—things you don’t learn in school...
It’s worth noting that the colleague did end up leaving. But I think Paulo was right. Everywhere, there are all kinds of people.
Note: The interjection "pôrra" (and its shortened version "pô") was and still is widely used in engineering jargon, functioning almost like a comma, a space, or a period.
by Miguel Fernández y Fernández, 2016nov02, 2,318 characters, with spaces
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