Started reading this thread, got to the third page and found a Personal Sore Spot. Had to Rant so I could Read On. One of our Foreman types was complaining (and I don't blame him a BIT! BT,DT, myself) about the younger guys having no Common Sense, generally. Around here in East Kentucky the strips have FLATLY REFUSED to train anyone except a Boss's Son or Brother since 1`978. Since coal is the only Industry worthy of the name here, that slams the door in the faces of a whole generation, myself included. They just continue working the Old Hands they trained in the early Seventies til they die or get disabled. In the meantime, the kids Give Up because they KNOW BETTER than to even ASK for a job, and sell pills to make a buck. And the Old Hands Pass On, and take ALL that Invaluable Knowledge To The GRAVE. This sets my rear AFLAME, because it is a STUPID WASTE on both ends, a Waste of a kid's Potential and Life, and a Waste of an Old Hand's Hard-Won Knowledge, and therefore HIS life, as well. Now the strips CAN'T get Trainees because they've said NO far too long, now nobody can pass a drug test, and everyone who could has LEFT the country.Except me, of course. So all you Old Hands, I know, we're Major Pains in the butt, but we're all the Fresh Meat you got. Who taught YOU your job? Well, that should show you that TEACHING is ALSO a part of the job. You've MADE your Reps and Livings, now Pass It On to the Next Gen! Where will the Next Generation of Dirt Wizards come from if YOU Old Merlins don't TRAIN them?! The Knowledge and Experience locked inside those hammer heads is MUCH more valuable than your company's assets, because it's Priceless and IRREPLACEABLE. THINK on it a minute before you side-step the decelerator. These senseless, ignorant KIDS are YOUR LEGACY. You take Pride in your work, well, you best be seeing to your Legacy, cause think what people will say when you DON'T Teach: 'Man, that youngster on that 9 just SUCKS! He can't even steer with the blade! And he's trying to cut the whole hill to grade all at once! I thought ol' So-and-So TRAINED him! He must not have been as Good as we thought he was, that kid sure is sorry!' Personally, I have the First Two, I know the machine, I can push the shot, scale the wall, run the fill, build roads, none WELL, because I can't get the CHANCE to be Coached Up by an Old Hand who I can Look Up To and Aspire to. But I CAN hook my winch to another and Head Over the Side, pushing brush. I have the NERVE, that's no Problem, I just substitute Calculated Insanity when I get scared, and Keep Pushin'. But I don't have the Mindset, the Patience, for Yo-yoing. After I hit the sixth stump in five feet I get Ill, after 30 minutes I'm mad enough to bite the heads off Grade 8 bolts. That's why I'm the Lowboy Driver now. But ALL the Pushers, my Boss included, would rather have ME on the ledge holding them than anyone they know. But I need to acquire the Third Requisite to get a full-time job on a strip. And that's IMPOSSIBLE. I ain't kin to anyone, and I have no Suction. No job, no Education. Catch-22. So all you Bosses and other Old Hands, look at it from another viewpoint. If you teach these boys AND GIRLS the RIGHT way to work, they'll make a much FINER tombstone than ANY stone-cutter could EVER do. Likewise, if you keep it to yourself, when you die, you are TRULY DEAD and Gone. But if you Pass It On, that Knowledge will NEVER die, and so you will become Immortal. That's why I Purely LOVE these boards, ACME, ACMOC, and this one, and guys like Deas Plant and Old Magnet. Oh, Sure, the computer is Taking Over. Fellers, the computer is a MECHANICAL BRAIN. It BREAKS DOWN. What do you do THEN, if no one kicked and cussed you and MADE you LEARN to Do It RIGHT? Heh heh, I guess you just Shut 'er Down, grab your slop bucket and go to The House. Oh YEAH, now, THAT'S something to be PROUD of. I'm Too Old, now, nobody is going to give me the chance to FINALLY Learn and Earn, my life has been wasted in Trucks, and scraping to keep the lights on, or a car running, or a job fit to get up and go to, but I never sold or did dope. That's why my newest vehicle is an '89, and my kids live in a house that's good enough to store hay in. But it was always my Dream to be an Ace dozerman, hoeman, loaderman, and loose-line skinner, just like MY Old Man. I think I've almost made the SuperTrucker part on my own, because I can now look at a place, KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that I or anyone else CAN NOT put a truck in there, and DO IT ANYWAY. Hey, what boy worth his salt don't want to be AT LEAST As Good As His Old Man? But I'll never make the Dozer Ace part, I won't live long enough.... HOWEVER, if I ever get the Chance, I WILL be all over it like yellow paint on a D10. Sorry for the long post, but this subject REALLY sticks in my craw.
KY Jim
