[realelectrician]

Here is a comment in a home improvement article I read:

"There are a few good people, but let's face it, it usually isn't the thoughtful people with problem solving skills, a sense of fair play, or the strongest work ethics that seem to find themselves in this line of work. It was the people in my shop class that mostly smoked pot, didn't pay that much attention, didn't really work hard and had an uncle they were going to work for over the summer or on weekends. Fast forward 10 years...did anything really happen with them to make them not this way any more? This all said, if you're good, then you are a gem...and rare.

Even skilled people only put in so much effort most of the time. I learned, for minor to moderate stuff, if I take my time to learn, and put forth the effort, I can usually do a better job than most professionals at their typical performance level. Minor plumbing, electrical, drywall, etc. repairs or installations aren't rocket science."

 

[mrcharles]

I believe anyone can learn and do anything if they put their mind to it.... The problem stems from a false sense of confidence people get from watching a youtube video posted by someone else who does not know what they're doing.

 

[realelectrician]

I believe anyone can learn and do anything if they put their mind to it.... The problem stems from a false sense of confidence people get from watching a youtube video posted by someone else who does not know what they're doing.

I agree partly that anyone can learn anything if they really wanted to but that doesn't mean they can apply what they learned studying into the actual work.

You can read all day on how to shoot a jump shot or throw a 65 yard spiral but let's see you actually do it:laughing: same with anything in life.

And yeah the confidence people get watching youtube or reading forums is hilarious. They take one individual and take what they say as fact. They believe what these people say on youtube but they don't ask for any proof of qualification. You are taught to get proof of licenses and qualifications before you hire a contractor but they don't do that when they watch a youtube video.

 

[steex]

I got into this business because I'm an alcoholic and a drug user and a misfit and I couldn't function in any other line of work. I have a college degree, which meant I could get fired from all sorts of other jobs, but this is the only one that stuck. I was able to scrape by and earn some sort of a living even in the depths of my disease, and there are a lot of guys out there like that. I'm sober now and my performance and attitude have vastly improved, but I'm still a misfit who couldn't hold an office job if I tried.

 

[dom-mas]

The guy who wrote that comment is an idiot. "...for minor to moderate stuff, if I take my time..." Yup and for minor to moderate anything I can do just about anything...banking, auto work, medical stuff, law, office work, investing, accounting etc... But we all know that it isn't the minor to moderate stuff that gives us paycheques, and it certainly isn't taking our sweet time doing it either. It's doing difficult work, quickly and well that makes us professionals and not dilettantes.

Look I even wrote a comment...I should send it in just to show it wasn't that hard, heck I could probably publish a magazine or be an editor or something...I'll just take my time...and maybe watch some youtube videos first. And if I have any problems I'll just wait til I'm working at an editors house then ask him/her a thousand questions. Nothing to it

 

[dom-mas]

I'll also add.

Many DIYers can learn the hows of lots of stuff....but they seldom get a real appreciation of the why's..and that's where a pro can do things successfully within their trade that they haven't done before and why a DIYer has to learn how to do it each time. How is only half of the equation

 

[huggytree]

I think a good % in the trades are the pot smokers we all knew in high school.... I always tell people looking to get into the trades that if your average intelligence you will excel......ive been on new home construction sites where im the only one not smoking pot....one job they all sat in a pot circle in the living room......the roofers I used to see on the new homes used to smoke pot every morning...id pull up at 7am and look in their truck..it was all foggy like a cheech and chong movie

the other job I think all the high school pot smokers went into is auto repair..

 

[rselectric1]

That author of that is likely an idiot.

He may be able to hook up a few wires enough times that it will work, he may be able to hook up a few traps under his sink that will work, and he might even be able to remodel his own basement.

But when his kids get sick because the plumbing wasn't done right, the house starts on fire because he used the wrong sized wires, or other "rocket" science has gone wrong, I must say OH WELL!

There is nothing wrong with thinning the herd.

 

[realelectrician]

I think a good % in the trades are the pot smokers we all knew in high school.... I always tell people looking to get into the trades that if your average intelligence you will excel......ive been on new home construction sites where im the only one not smoking pot....one job they all sat in a pot circle in the living room......the roofers I used to see on the new homes used to smoke pot every morning...id pull up at 7am and look in their truck..it was all foggy like a cheech and chong movie

the other job I think all the high school pot smokers went into is auto repair..

I have never met a pot head electrician and I've been around a lot of them. Can't be high working with electricity. Roofers are known to be the biggest drunks and potheads but if I had to do that chit for a living I'd be the same way:laughing:

 

[Agility]

I have never met a pot head electrician and I've been around a lot of them. Can't be high working with electricity. Roofers are known to be the biggest drunks and potheads but if I had to do that chit for a living I'd be the same way:laughing:

You can definitely be high working with electricity. I always assumed that's why the light switches are in no discernible order.

 

[huggytree]

I have never met a pot head electrician and I've been around a lot of them. Can't be high working with electricity. Roofers are known to be the biggest drunks and potheads but if I had to do that chit for a living I'd be the same way:laughing:

i had a friend in middle school who used to sniff/huff glue....he tried to get me to try it.....last i saw him he was a commercial electrician

im not saying all the tradesman are pot heads....i am saying ''remember those pot heads in high school--many are now in the trades''...im sure my friend doesn't sniff glue anymore....but he was in that category 25 years ago

ive seen drunk plumbers...one had his stubs sticking out of the ground 10-15 degrees off.....he got hurt on the job and the hospital wouldn't let him drive home because he was so drunk

 

[dom-mas]

All my friends in highschool were potheads myself included. Out of a fairly close dozen there's only one that was in the trades for a while (apparently a bachelors degree in Geography doesn't open a ton of doors) and he now just finished up his masters in architecture. One of those close friends is a lawyer, others are in high tech, one is a currency trader in Australia making insane sums of money and the list goes on. Of the hundred or so other pot heads I was friends with almost all I see or hear about are successful and maybe 10 are in the trades.

Of the unsuccessful people I see or hear about from HS there's the one guy who still works at the grocery store (although I guess he is a manager but I mean come on) and he was a pretty straight guy who didn't drink or smoke and there's the one jock who was dead against weed and now works at a window manufacturing company

These are just the people I hear about, but it shows me that pot smoking in HS has NO bearing on future successes (or entry into the trades), and furthers my view that the writer of that comment is an idiot. Or maybe he was just dazed and confused when he wrote that

 

[CarpenterSFO]

I don't have a big problem with that article. It's true enough about a big part of our industry, and it's true enough about what an intelligent and careful DIYer can do. It's all irrelevant to why someone hires a good professional.

It doesn't matter to me what the industry's reputation is, only mine. But if you want respect from customers and strangers, earn a good living and you'll get that respect. You want self-respect and the respect of true friends and family? Different criteria.

 

[realelectrician]

I don't have a big problem with that article. It's true enough about a big part of our industry, and it's true enough about what an intelligent and careful DIYer can do. It's all irrelevant to why someone hires a good professional.

It doesn't matter to me what the industry's reputation is, only mine. But if you want respect from customers and strangers, earn a good living and you'll get that respect. You want self-respect and the respect of true friends and family? Different criteria.

You don't have a big problem with the article? Did you read the whole thing?

The guy says

1. There are a few good people, but let's face it, it usually isn't the thoughtful people with problem solving skills, a sense of fair play, or the strongest work ethics that seem to find themselves in this line of work.

Really there are "few" good people out of the hundreds of thousands of contractors in the country?

I actually got into the electrical trade mostly for the "problem solving skills" I love troubleshooting and I'm damn good at it. I also CHOSE to be an electrician right out of high school.

2.It was the people in my shop class that mostly smoked pot, didn't pay that much attention, didn't really work hard.

Really? Funny I never smoked pot or did a drug in my life. I also rarely ever drink. I also took shop class in grade school and all 4 years of high school and I took CAD/drafting class. I could not wait for these classes to start because I genuinely enjoyed it. I still have furniture I built in grade school almost 23 years ago.

I was put in management roles as early as 19 years old and I feel I work harder then most people I meet or work around.

The generalizations that come from mostly white collar people are rediculus.

I guess they don't watch the show this old house do those guys look like drunk pot heads? No way. There are many good guys out there like them and I'm one of them.

Again I worked around many contractors in my career and never met a druggie or drunk electrician. I worked for one of the largest companies in NJ with over 200 trucks and 3 divisions. We had work in places where extensive background checks were needed on us just to get in the damn building I doubt pot heads would work out. If there are pot head or drunk or druggie electricians they weren't in the companies I worked for.

And last but not least he says:
"I can usually do a better job than most professionals at their typical performance level. "

I will put up my whole years salary that no DIYer is going to do a better job then I do. It's a nutty statement to even think you would do a better job then a professional that does it every day. I don't dabble, I don't tinker, I don't do this after a day job on the side... I do this for a living.

 

[Kniggit]

When I was a teen in the early 70's I was told "learn a trade and you'll never have trouble finding work". My dad worked at the local AFB here for 30+ years and it seemed like such a dead end job, while his brother was a paperhanger(talk about a dead end job nowadays) that was incredibly successful. I wanted nothing more than to be like him and own my own company and work for myself. When I was in my twenties and people would ask what I did for a living and I would tell them I was a bricklayer/mason, their reply would almost always be "Oooh, they make good money!"....little did I know that 30 years later I would be relegated to competing against Pedro and his fourteen cousins for peanuts. Unfettered immigration and cutthroats have absolutely killed this business in this day and age.

 

[Calidecks]

You don't have a big problem with the article? Did you read the whole thing? The guy says 1. There are a few good people, but let's face it, it usually isn't the thoughtful people with problem solving skills, a sense of fair play, or the strongest work ethics that seem to find themselves in this line of work. Really there are "few" good people out of the hundreds of thousands of contractors in the country? I actually got into the electrical trade mostly for the "problem solving skills" I love troubleshooting and I'm damn good at it. I also CHOSE to be an electrician right out of high school. 2.It was the people in my shop class that mostly smoked pot, didn't pay that much attention, didn't really work hard. Really? Funny I never smoked pot or did a drug in my life. I also rarely ever drink. I also took shop class in grade school and all 4 years of high school and I took CAD/drafting class. I could not wait for these classes to start because I genuinely enjoyed it. I still have furniture I built in grade school almost 23 years ago. I was put in management roles as early as 19 years old and I feel I work harder then most people I meet or work around. The generalizations that come from mostly white collar people are rediculus. I guess they don't watch the show this old house do those guys look like drunk pot heads? No way. There are many good guys out there like them and I'm one of them. Again I worked around many contractors in my career and never met a druggie or drunk electrician. I worked for one of the largest companies in NJ with over 200 trucks and 3 divisions. We had work in places where extensive background checks were needed on us just to get in the damn building I doubt pot heads would work out. If there are pot head or drunk or druggie electricians they weren't in the companies I worked for. And last but not least he says: "I can usually do a better job than most professionals at their typical performance level. " I will put up my whole years salary that no DIYer is going to do a better job then I do. It's a nutty statement to even think you would do a better job then a professional that does it every day. I don't dabble, I don't tinker, I don't do this after a day job on the side... I do this for a living.

There's irony in your signature. :laughing: "Handymen are people too"

 

[dom-mas]

move up here...business is good and the mexicans don't like snow

 

[CarpenterSFO]

...

You don't have a big problem with the article? Did you read the whole thing?

...

I did read it all, and I am in violent agreement with you that those comments don't describe you, or what you and I call professionals.

I don't care what that commenter says. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about the guys who I make sure my prospective customers think, and my customers know, I'm not.

 

[CarpenterSFO]

... a home improvement article I read:...

Well, that's where you made the mistake.:laughing:

 

[91782]

You don't have a big problem with the article? Did you read the whole thing?

The generalizations that come from mostly white collar people are rediculus.

It's "ridiculous". What's sad, is there's a built-in speelink-chaker, and you still let it by. Be sure to tell us one more time how outstanding you are.

Might be why these "generalizations" you perceive are more than specious.