Apprentices just aren’t what they used to be. Time was that they were at least keen to learn. I’ve had this one for six weeks and he still doesn’t know one end of a monkey wrench from the other. I showed him the ute toolbox central locking and he looked at it like I was some kind of wizard. Just…come on. This is standard equipment in 2017. Show a bit of initiative and look it up yourself.
And it could be worse; my guy isn’t all that bright, but at least he’s decent. My mate Harry had a guy who showed up late every day and spent half the time trying to check his phone. But if it’s not one thing it’s the other. All these workplace laws we have nowadays just make things difficult, as well. I remember when I started, back when I was only fourteen. The only rule then was ‘you screw up, you’re gone’, and it worked like a charm. It was a plumbing job, and my very first job on my very first day had me crawling through a septic pipe to get rid of a blockage. They didn’t even wait until I was out before they turned on the jet cleaner. The boss said I probably needed a good hose down anyway, which was pretty much true. And then d’you know what happened? I didn’t go crying to the ombudsman; we went to the pub afterwards and had a good laugh about it.
Sure, we might not have had toolbox central locking, and actually ute toolboxes weren’t a thing either. We just carried toolboxes by the handles and dumped them in the back of the ute. But it was a lot simpler, I can tell you that. I learned quickly by getting stuck in and observing. I didn’t go home at the end of the day and have all that knowledge fall out in my sleep.
Ahh, maybe I’m being too harsh. Everyone learns differently, and at least I got a nice guy working under me. Still, a week in and he still doesn’t get custom draw systems? Now THAT isn’t rocket science.
-Geoff