Every Wall Needs Lateral Support

I lost touch with one of the Charlies in my life 46 years ago. We knew each other for only a couple of years.

People say there are only 3 kinds of drunks: the happy drunk, the angry drunk, and the sad drunk.

Charlie was a sad drunk. He was also the commercial builder who built the big grocery store on the corner of 91st and Elm.

The architect had drawn a tall, freestanding brick wall that would separate the  produce section from the rest of the store. Charlie explained to the architect that every wall needed lateral support; corners, curves, posts, or connection to a stable ceiling.

The architect told him he was wrong, so Charlie went ahead and tied the wall into the metal superstructure above it so that the wall wouldn’t fall over and kill someone. The architect was angry, but Charlie told him to get over it.

The incident of the brick wall in the grocery store was the first time in my life that I understood the instability of a freestanding wall.

Every wall needs lateral support, even those that cannot be touched by your hand or seen by your eye.