You cant fix stupid with duct tape

At the yard where I work,we got a baby Trojan loader that runs out nice as scrap from a local greenhouse. I would guess that its from the sixties with a 6 cylinder International diesel engine and looks to have spent its life stored indoors.
I guess management sold this loader to one of our local peddlers that frequent the yard. I see him sitting in it trying to start it with no luck (I move it around when its in the way and never have a problem starting it) so I walk over to see what the problem is. He tells me he has the choke pulled out and it still wont start (he has the lever pulled that is clearly labeled ENGINE STOP) so I ask him if he remembers the grade nine auto class about the differance between diesels and gas engines? He replies almost proudly that he never made it that far in school.
We pushed the loader onto his trailer with our little shear and off he went
Here in Ontario education is free,so there is no excuse to not have at least a high school education. I see these people all the time in the yard and it makes me wonder how they manage to survive. If I had any say in the matter,these people would be on disability pension so they could be kept from harming themselves or others. Sorry for my rant on a Sunday morning ,but this kind of thing really irks me

Not being rude you may be the one that needs a education. It never hurts no one to lend a helping hand.

Put them on disability pension so the rest of us dont have to deal with them. I have been in the scrap bus. thirty years and never been hurt,but have seen quite a few close calls because the persons involved dont stop and think ahead. Can you imagine a no mind like this one running a loader with other people around ? The scrap I have dealt with all my life is all big stuff......no such thing as a sprain or cut in this stuff. I have seen two people killed on the job because of lack of forethought.
In the three years I have been with this yard,they have given me 3 guys to train as burners. The first question I ask is if they finished high school. All three told me no. Down the road they went. If you cant finish high school ,you are either untrainable or too lazy to learn. Neither of which I want to work beside for my own safety.

Wow someone needs a bit of education in "class"....someone taught you something at some point....maybe just pointing out that he might have mistakenly pulled the wrong level out that he might have either grabbed by mistake or looked over wpuld have shown you weren't an ass. Sorry but that attitude of yours and the condescending tone makes you an ass....and I dont call too many people out.

Just because school didnt work out for them (and you don't know the reason they dropped out), is no cause to dismiss someone outright. Oh amd for the record I have a college degree in business. Plenty of people who are very smart and sucessful didn't finish school.

Maybe your ATTITUDE is why you are TRAINING people at tue yard and not managing or owning it....

I wouldnt want to own my own yard.....too many headaches. Sorry for the tone of my posts,maybe it was the conversation my supervisor and I had about dead wood that works for us and how to get rid of them. The only reason I am a burner is my bank says I have to have a steady job to have a mortgage. I have worked independant contract jobs for years......where the real money is. I also have a college degree as and industrial mechanic. And I got that because I told unemployment I was too stupid to find a job,so they sent me to get educated free of charge. In high school,I took three years of socialolgy,where I learned to profile people. I have a big heart,but some people require a kickstart. Again I apoligize if I have offended anyone,just my thoughts for the day

"The first question I ask is if they finished high school. All three told me no. Down the road they went. If you cant finish high school ,you are either untrainable or too lazy to learn. Neither of which I want to work beside for my own safety

Just another example of being educated but having no common sense. To lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than you (no matter the reason) is the most "educated" and spiritual thing you can do. Hope you never need a helping hand someday 'cause it might not be there. You often get back what you give out.

What's worse than stupid? Stupid with a degree.

Originally Posted by hmburner

<snip> The first question I ask is if they finished high school. All three told me no. Down the road they went. If you cant finish high school ,you are either untrainable or too lazy to learn. Neither of which I want to work beside for my own safety.

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Everyone deserves a chance, even if only the smallest chance. here's a short true story.
He quit high school in first year. Just couldn't absorb formal education. Had some 30 jobs over the next 3 years - unable to stabilise - then got a job to convert mechanical ledger machines to decimal currency (Australia 1965). He had 3 months training, then spent 18 years with that company. The last 30 years were spent in his own business in the Personal Computer industry consulting, selling, building, cabling and running networks, installing and support.

Who? Me! I got my chance in 1965 - the person who interviewed me for the job must have seen something worthwhile.

BTW, while at Burroughs during those 18 years, the sales manager increased the sales team with 19 fresh from uni candidates.
I guess the theory was that if you could survive university, you could learn to sell stuff. 12 months later all but 1 of that team of
19 still worked there. Just saying is all.

Cheers

I hitch hiked to california in my teens. Learned a lot on that trip

I once was beginning a new job as a commercial carpenter. The first thing the foreman asked me was "can you read a tape?"
Within two or three days they had him loading up his tools, and I had his job ; )