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Union shop taught me more in 2 weeks than 4 years of school
Back in 2018 I showed up to a job in Toledo with my shiny certificate, thinking I knew it all. The old foreman, Mike, handed me a grinder and said, "watch the grooves, kid, that's where the cracks hide." By day 3 I'd burned through three cutting wheels because I was pushing too hard, and he just laughed. Last month I watched a brand new guy do the exact same thing, and it hit me how much I'd learned on site. Anyone else feel like the real education starts when you clock in, not when you graduate?
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dylan4131mo ago
School taught me the math. The union taught me that math means nothing when the concrete is wet and the foreman is yelling. That first week feeling like an idiot with a grinder is a RIGHT OF PASSAGE, my friend. I still remember burning through discs like they were free and Mike just shaking his head. You can read about groove cracks all day long, but you don't really GET it until you've wrecked a couple of good wheels learning the feel. Now I'm the old guy watching new kids do the same dance, and honestly it's the most entertaining show on site.
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