burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

We reach comfort levels and use mostly what we are familiar with. But the old adage, "If all you have is a hammer, everything else looks like a nail" applies!

[Off topic short story related to previous statement:]

When I was 12, my Dad and I watched a "finish carpenter" put together a door to our crawl space in our new house in Greenville, SC. He was fastening tongue-and-groove lumber using screws, which... he started driving with a f***ing hammer!

My dad was normally a very quiet, mellow fellow, but that day, I learned that he could snap and go ballistic when confronted with such ignorant stupidity! I learned a lot of the choice obscenities he had picked up in the Navy. They were quite creative! That was the only time I EVER saw him unleash such fury.

Anyway, he shooed the stinky redneck away, and we finished the job ourselves, replacing splintered wood and screws with proper nails. Later, we found a small pile of PBR cans and a half box of cheap wood screws scattered in our driveway. The guy had cleaned out his truck!

Mom came downstairs to see what all the fuss was about, and then went back upstairs to call the builder and complain. He laughed at her, since the contract was signed and the check transferred from the bank.

That day, I learned to use the right tool for the job, and not to sign a contract or transfer payments until the work is completely done. I also learned not to BS my Dad with ignorant behavior!

It doesn't matter what brand of hammer you have, if you need a screwdriver.

BebuLamar

Thanks for your scoring. When I train a new worker I always say first park your common sense outside of the factory.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

Sounds like he was from Ohio. A “finish carpenter” doesn’t need a license or experience, just a sign that says “finish carpenter.” We tell people here never to write the last check until Completely Satisfied. Once the last check is cashed and cleared good luck getting them to come back and correct a bad job.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Judging by his accent, the guy was probably from rural upstate SC, which, in 1967, was about 80% illiterate and dirt poor. So far as we knew, there were *no* unions or trade apprenticeships in that area.

We had just moved to Greenville, SC, from Greensboro, NC (in the Piedmont Triad, a wonderful area where we are now). Moving to SC from Greensboro was an absolute culture shock back then. It took me 11 years to get over it by moving to Charlotte, NC near Davidson, where I got my degree in '77. SC is a different world, still, though a wee bit more contemporary.

User ID

Once I had a coworker’s boss yelling at me about whether I had any common sense. My assistant and I had do or die orders from our boss, get it done if it takes all night,which it did. No excuses and no missed 8am deadline allowed.

Something in our work had upset that coworker but orders is orders. So 8am his boss was on my case yelling about my lack of common sense. I simply told him that I had been in that shop long enough to have learned to preserve my common sense by leaving it out in the parking lot every day, cuz there was no use for it in that shop environment.

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Funny thing is he tried to throw the book at me. We actually had a dozen binders full of procedures and regulations, and when that boss dug into the binders the result was that his employee was a gross violator and that my assistant and I were just doing what absolutely must be done.

That shop had an entertainment value very similar to what we have at UHH. In both those environments there’s a huge contingency that simply never “gets it” entertainmentwise.