Which Role Do I Play

I watched them tear a building down,
Sixteen men in my hometown.

With a mighty heave and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled,
Just like those you’d hire to build?"

He laughed and said, "No, indeed!
Common laborers are all I need."

And I can wreck in a day or two,
What talented men took years to do."

Then I thought as I went my way,
Which role in life do I play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
And lives each day by a rule and square?

Or am I a wrecker in my hometown,
Content to knock and tear things down?