Overheard a new guy say "it's just plugging in cables" and I wanted to scream

I was pulling into the parking lot at our shop in Tucson on Monday and heard this trainee tell his buddy that our job is easy because it's just plugging stuff in. Dude has been with us maybe 2 weeks and hasn't dealt with a single attic crawl in July yet. I mean, I get that it looks simple from the outside but crawling through fiberglass in 110 degree heat or trying to fish lines through old plaster walls ain't exactly a walk in the park. Has anyone else had to deal with customers or newbies acting like this isn't actual skilled labor?

3 comments

3 Comments

parkerh384d ago

and honestly my first week I probably said something just as dumb, now I'm the guy eating lunch in my truck with the AC blasting so I don't have to listen to anyone complain. you don't really get the full experience until you've had to pull cable through an attic that's basically a pizza oven. I've definitely earned my salt stains and then some.

vera_lewis4d ago

Eating lunch in your truck with the AC blasting" might be the MOST relatable thing I've read all week. Honestly that "pizza oven attic" sounds like a sneak preview of what we're all gonna get if the climate keeps going sideways. Glad you've earned those salt stains with some hard earned silence too.

jamienguyen4d ago

Nobody's mentioned the weird camaraderie that builds from shared misery like that. There's something about sweating through a rough install with the same crew that creates a bond you can't fake in an air conditioned office. Those pizza oven attics might be brutal, but they also weed out the people who don't belong.