That talk with an old industrial sparky made me question my whole approach

Last week I was on a job at an old plant in Cleveland and this guy who's been doing industrial for 40 years watched me zip-tie a bundle of control wires. He just said 'you're making future me hate you' and walked off. At first I was annoyed but then I thought about it - I always run stuff neat but never think about the next guy who has to trace a fault. Now I'm leaving service loops and labeling every single wire instead of just doing it halfway. Has anyone else had a senior guy drop a comment that stuck with you way more than you expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane7513d ago

My buddy Tom works commercial electrical and he told me about an old foreman who watched him run conduit tight into a corner, then just said 'hope you never have to pull through that.' Tom brushed it off until three months later he had to fish a new wire through that exact run and spent four hours cussing himself out. Now he leaves an extra 6 inches on every pull and labels the junction boxes with dates and wire numbers.

jones.blake3d ago

You ever had a buddy tell you a story that made you rethink everything? My friend Mike works HVAC and he told me about this old timer who saw him drilling through a stud without checking what was on the other side. The guy just said 'you're lucky you only hit your own hand today' and walked off. Mike didn't get it at first either. Then a week later he found a pipe he'd drilled through in a ceiling and had to tear out half the ductwork to fix it. Now he triple checks everything and leaves notes for whoever comes after him. That one comment stuck with him hard.