Pauly

Physically, Pauly is a pretty big dude…he’s the first to admit this. He’s also an unashamed redneck. He gets around with a fishing hook clipped to his hat – it’s some kind of redneck accessory. I haven’t quite worked it out and Pauly didn’t give me a very good explanation…I’m told that many rednecks share a love for the outdoors and so I guess if you're a redneck you’re the kind of guy who might like to throw a line in at any given moment and, if you do, you don’t want to be caught without a hook (!?!?) Clutching at straws here…it’s a weird accessory!

Further to the outdoorsman persona, Pauly owns a lot of camouflage gear, including a set of camo bed sheets. It was also Pauly’s .22 rifle that scared the shit out of me when I saw it pointing out from under his bed sheets just after I’d settled into the camper (strange to think that I wouldn’t look twice if I saw the same thing today).

All of this said, I think there’s a lot more to Pauly than the redneck. Going on my description above, you’d think he was some kind of hard-edged urban militant. If you hang around him a bit – we’ve had five months to do so - you actually find that he’s very sharp and, I think, a bit of a softy at heart.

Hailing from Ohio, Pauly is the only American on the crew (apart from Greg). The fact that, in this regard, he is a foreigner in his own country is bizarre and I think frustrating for him at times. By default he is the target whenever one of the boys wants to sound off about America and, for this, he gets his fair share of shit. The fact that he takes this all in good humour and turns the other cheek when he needs to indicates to me that he is incredibly strong willed.

This is Pauly’s second year in a row working for Greg. I’ve realised that it takes a certain type of person to make a career out of custom harvesting (even if it is a short one). Most of the boys, including myself, have indicated that they would not back up for a second year in a row, simply because of the full-on nature of the lifestyle. Similarly, the fact that Pauly is back again this year, also indicates strength of character. The same can be said for Lars who is serving his seventh year!