He's Back! The Prodigal Son Hath Returned! This term of endearment that I have used to describe the typical "new guy" or putz. Moron, idiot, re-re, "not-the-sharpest-tool-in-the-shed" type. Skippy. Skippy is the trainee at my company. A dangerous animal. Incapable of doing anything without endangering the lives of others. A figure that needs to be supervised at all times...easily identified by an overzealous reaction to everything, and a "lack of understanding" face.... In my many years in the field of plumbing, I have witnessed several versions of Skippy hurting himself anywhere from accidentally smashing his own face with a pipe wrench, to dropping a manhole cover on his head, to accidentally repeatedly electrocuting himself to prove he wasn't lying about getting electrocuted. Today, I witnessed some vintage Skippy. Some homegrown high-quality Skippy. Today's Skippy was in the top 3 Skippy antics Book of World Skippy Records. This particular trainee has been in training for 6 weeks, and is on his first day by himself - he has done 4 other service calls today, a pretty decent day for a Skippy. I was proud....until... The phone call..... TIME: 2:46 pm - "Good afternoon, this is WillyTheDeuce, how can I help you?" The customer explains to me that he wants my technician out of his house. Skippy has made poor impression on the customer, and he has requested a senior technician. I grab the other Skippy noob, whom, until he can do anything, is called "Sally". "Let's go Sally, we need to get over to Skippy and figure out what happened." We drive. Upon arrival, I see Skippy..... He is walking out toward me. Smiling. He appears to be wearing a hat and makeup. But it is not a hat and makeup. I say "Hey, Skippy. What's going on?" He smiles. "Gotta little problem in the basement boss." I walk in this decent house. A 4 bedroom colonial house in a nice neighborhood. Nice basement..carpeted, and has tons of nice weight benches and treadmills and such. Very nice. Except one. One is covered in kitchen waste. All over the bench...covered in ground up vegetables, rice and the main ingredient.... Chicken. Skippy, responding to a call for a clogged kitchen sink, did not think about the result of opening up an access cap in the gym ceiling...when there is a sink above him full of kitchen waste. He loosened the cap and somehow thought - in his little head - that a small bowl would catch the 10-15 gallons of waste that ricocheted off the ceiling, and first landed on Skippy's head, and then flooded this mans gym. Skippy -- being the Rhodes Scholar he was -- never even bothered to wipe his face in any manner. AT ALL. His head had...what I can only describe to you, reader...what appeared to be a chicken yamaka. A rounded layer of ground up chicken and rice lay on top of his head. And his EYEBROWS had a thin layer of chicken grindings. He never reacted to the splash. Just closed his eyes. Imagine getting several gallons of ground up garbage disposal debris on your head?! WHAT WOULD YOU DO? I KNOW WHAT I'D DO! I'D WIPE OFF MY DAMN FACE!!! But not Skippy! Noooooo no. He embraces his inner stupid and keeps trucking. So, this gets better! I order Sally to go get a vacuum, and the customer says "No, i'll clean it." I tell him we take care of our own messes, and we will clean it. The customer pulls me aside. "Pssst. Hey, when you get a sec, I need to talk to you." Apparently, Skippy had asked this gentleman to call the office and tell ME that he was kicking him out. Yeah. Because Skippy had told the customer "I wanna go out to dinner with my girlfriend tonight." A DATE! ON HIS FIRST DAY ON HIS OWN! I went back upstairs...fixed the drain clog, cleaned and left. LIVID! Skippy was let go tonight. I saw him leave the office...chicken hat askew. Off to somewhere that will be more appreciative of his personality... Like a crack house.
During the American recession, gains had been minimal, but from 2009-2014, we grew from a $1m a year (sales) company to a $8.3m. Most of my techs make more than $65k a year...the senior guys (6 of them) broke $100k. It is a great field. Plumbing work is always needed.
Can I apply? I have no experience. I don't work weekends I am a slow learner I will be on my phone kawing 80% of the time. I am always late. I don't do well in closed in areas I am allergic to water I always smell like cat urine And I shave my armpits. I hope that impressive resume does not make me over qualified to be your next skippy.
@willy Yeah, here in Japan there is a great need for plumbers and electricians. Everyone wants the cushy white collar work so those who are willing to get their hands dirty can make a killing here as well.