SteveO,
I would agree with you that there are a handful of regular contributors to this forum that are smart asses in their responses. Sometimes its funny and sometimes simply arrogant or degrading. I have read several posts that were put up by, what appeared to be, a fledgling route mechanic asking an elementary question. The responses range from helpful to "Do you know how to read a print" or "Do you know how to use a DMM?" If a guy is just coming out of construction to a route, then his experience is limited to the equipment he has installed(maybe even just one OEM).I have been on a route for about 8 years now. I spent my first year realizing how much I didn't know about elevators. I was fortunate to have 2 veteran troubleshooters take me under their wing and patiently teach me. They still broke by balls when I did something stupid, but would also tell me stories where a fuse or an overload kicked their butts early in their careers. We can tell pretty quickly if its an elevator man or an electrician, engineer, building maintenance or harry homeowner asking a question. If its an elevator man then responses should be helpful instead of sarcastic.
In my personal experience elevator men are not normally warm and fuzzy creatures. There is a reason Dr. Phil isn't an elevator man. When I was a 50% probate, my first mechanic didn't call me by my first name for a while. I was simply "50" and at least once a week I was told that I wasn't going to make it and that there were a 100 guys standing in line to take my job. After making 70%, the mechanic and I became fast friends. There is a wide variety of personalities in this business. In my first year in the business, I can remember thinking that half of the guys I worked with thought they were Charles Bronson. In their own minds they were certified ass whippers and lady killers. I was constantly hearing stories where one maverick elevator man or another beat down all the men at the bar and all the women were throwing themselves at their feet. About 15 years ago, there was a group of us taking break and we were listening to a brother telling one of these painful stories and a vetran mechanic(who was 2 years from retirement and a little short on patience) turned to me and said, " Do you realize how fortunate we are to work with the smartest, toughest and most suave men on the planet. Everyone of them is the perfect blend of Albert Einstein, John Wayne and Don "f***ing Juan" He then turned to the storyteller and said, "It must be a lot of pressure to be at the top of the food chain and have to deal with us lowly earthlings" This brought the BS story to a sudden end. I am saying all this to say that maybe I am just desensitized to arrogant and boastful elevator men.
SteveO, I would encourage you not to leave the forum. If you have 30 years in the business, then you have knowledge worth contributing. Don't let a few bad apples spoil it for you.Rather than name several contributors who are knowledgable but won't get off their soapbox long enough to see that they sound like douche bags,I would prefer to use member JKH as an example. Though I don't personally know the man, he is obviously a seasoned veteran and his responses are helpful, witty and respectful. Even when responding to non-elevator people he is firm but polite. I have visited several elevator forums/sites over the last couple of years and this is by far my favorite. So SteveO, if your getting irratated by some know-it-all being a smug prick, theres nothing that says you can't tell him so.
Last edited by Elevated; 04/20/14 03:56 PM.
