Today was a day where I had to say good bye to a co-worker with whom I really enjoyed working with. Gordon J. Hunt, or Gordy as we know him, is a very unique and admirable person with a well of knowledge on the trade of being an electrical utility lineman. Some of his practices and techniques might have been viewed as unorthodox by today's standards, but there are certain situations sometimes that call for an unorthodox answer and I'll be damned if Gordy usually would have a way to remedy a situation.
Another reason I really liked Gordy on a personal level, is even though he was a lineman for 30+ years, he did not adhere to this "old school" bullshit you find out there amongst the trade. Some of the guys I work with know and can attest as they came up through the ranks dealing with "good old boy" ways in this trade.
These are things that I can barely tolerate, even as minor as they are today. The reason being is that I started from no where, earning peanuts, breaking my ass in a run down lumber mill for minimum wage. I did this for 2 years, hoping the job would build character in my 18 year old life. While the people I went to high school with had the whole "college experience" I tried the hard work, out on your own method.
I went on to landscaping, carpentry, masonry, and warehouse, eventually finding a break working electrical construction as an electrician for many years. All these things I did to get where I am, helped shape the person I have become. I laugh because sometimes I think that a select few I work with have never really gone down the hard path to get somewhere. I see somethings that go on and wonder how some people's work ethic has come about. I came from the "you are responsible for your own actions" type mentality that I see is sometimes not shared by some of the people I work with, which to me is sometimes distressing.
My friend (and now retired) co-worker, Gordy, understood where I came from and had been there himself. We had many a conversation on the in's & out's & up's & down's that one would find in this field. I admired his integrity and he will be missed by myself and my fellow co-workers who had the honor of working with him alot longer than I got to.
On another humorous note...
We had to do some training at work this week which consisted of "pole-top rescue". This is when you must climb to the top of a utility pole to save a fellow lineman who is in danger or has been injured while working. In training this is done with a 100LB+ dummy. Now at the company's training facility, we climb to the top of a 40' pole and rescue the dummy...... Let's just say on or home turf, the training wasn't quite as rigorous...for some.
For those who know us, this pic says it all:
Oh well, I had a little on my mind, now that I have "spread it", I can go tot bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment