Comments on: The hardest slacker job of all

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Sat, 28 Feb 2004 00:15:13 +0000

The mug came from a friend of Marc’s house where we stopped off for tea so I’ll probably never see it again. He had a scar from his mouth to his right ear from his “football hooligan days”. Which probably explains the mug.

By: matt b

matt b — Fri, 27 Feb 2004 23:40:11 +0000

i’m curious about the mug… see if you can steal it. Or would you get thrown in an offenders institute of some kind for that?

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 23:50:50 +0000

“At one time I used to lift a mug from every temping job I worked — I own too many mugs to do that, now.”

I’m currently collecting hi-viz jackets and working gloves. Got four pairs of gloves and three jackets. I try and take a souvenier from every job even it’s it’s just a pencil.

By: Dad

Dad — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 18:18:33 +0000

Well, your day was a little different from mine! On Tuesday I was getting lost in a pine forest looking for old oil wells. The main difference, I suspect, between the two is that I was fully motivated at the start to make the day successful since it was my idea and I would feel good if I achieved what I set out to achieve. Even so, as we started back from the location at about 3 p.m. I couldn’t help but think that this was a “short” day. The real bonus for me, however, was that I was out in fresh air and sunshine and it felt really good. So good I could have been on holiday!

Your comments about working the NEC remind me of a time when I used to exhibit a British device called Seistimer at trade shows in the US. Different states have different “right to work rules”. This meant, for example that in Texas you could set up your own stand while in California you had to pay someone else to do it (at double rate on Sunday) and then re-do it all after they left! I’m glad I don’t do that any more.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 18:10:07 +0000

I think you answered your own question, mate, about all the breaks. The time you spent working that solid, it wiped you out. And, on the farm, you often worked too hard, again, wiped yourself out.

Because the people you’re with now have the sense to pace you, you could maybe do this for a while. A long while, without destructing inward or outward.

It’s time we moved away from the 80s obsession with efficiency and updating. Beware the efficient system — it’ll be crushing some people in its gears. Learning to slack is part of learning to work.

“Have you ever drunk tea from a Young Offender’s Institute mug?” You bet! — but then, some of my colleagues work in youth offending teams. They got it by working there. At one time I used to lift a mug from every temping job I worked — I own too many mugs to do that, now.

Currently I’m drinking from: “The SIMS approach — we’re a sims-ems site of excellence!”

I have no idea what that means.

By: Jez

Jez — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 16:23:56 +0000

Yea, it does shout “out dated working practice” and all that other stuff, but as one of the taxpayers I can’t say I’m that bothered. Picking up rubbish is a crappy job, and it’s hard job, and I don’t fancy it myself. If the guys doing bins sprint round and finish in four hours, then good luck to them. They do sprint too – they come through here at about 7ish on Tuesday morning, and they aren’t pissing around. I’ve got no doubt that if working practices were changed – perhaps to something like collect the bins then go out on spot response – everything would slow down. Not deliberately perhaps, but simply because the job is less fun, everyone’s less motivated, and so on. The psychology of the situation changes, and the relationship between binbloke and council starts to break down. So enjoy your tea.

This apparent slacking isn’t confined to council binmen, by the way. The working day you describe almost exactly matches my time working as a driver’s mate for Gaymers. We notionally started at 6, but rarely left the yard before 7 or even 7:30. In a typical day we’d make 4 or 5 deliveries to pubs or shops. A pub delivery was invariably followed by a refreshing beverage. Generally we got back the yard early-to-mid afternoon. If our route took us past my house, I’d get dropped off. Whatever, a day was a day – when the lorry was empty you were finished. Beer comes in handy barrels for a start, so you can drop and roll it. I enjoyed it – good money, free beer, and a really brown left arm.